HEY BABY: Examining socio-economic predictors of resilience
This research combines new data from 1000+ adolescent mother-child dyads in South Africa with prior data from pre-conception to pregnancy, which can be used to identify facilitators for promoting resilience for this highly vulnerable group. These quantitative findings are further informed by qualitative research and engagements with adolescent and policy groups.
(1) New tools for data collection were developed, informed by adolescent mothers’ feedback. Standardised scales of child development were adapted to improve contextual relevance and implementation feasibility.
(2) We developed a sampling strategy enabling inclusion of adolescent mothers who both did and did not engage in formal health, education and social services, and leading to recruitment of 1042 adolescent mothers and 1124 of their children.
(3) Data cleaning of complex relational data is building a unique dataset that will allow us to identify services and social protective factors to promote resilience amongst high-risk adolescents and their children in South Africa.
(4) During COVID lockdowns, the team adapted robust data collection methodologies remotely. Following full redesign, training and pilot testing of new tools, remote data collection is now tracing the study dyads in collaboration with 70+ health facilities.
(5) Active engagement with policymakers and implementers at local, national and international levels elicited close collaborations with the Departments of Basic Education and Health and local NGOs, which have been instrumental in supporting pilot and baseline data collection, successful recruitment and identification of key research priorities.
(6) Concerted data cleaning enabled preliminary analysis of baseline data to respond to urgent policy questions, with publication of 6 peer-reviewed papers and multiple high-level presentations.
PLH-SUPER: Testing parenting support for adolescents in severe adversity
Our aim is to investigate the implementation and effectiveness of the PLH parenting interventions when delivered at scale in real-world contexts.
(1) Strong collaborations have been established with implementing partners in 10 African countries, with anonymised secondary data received from Tanzania, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe and Montenegro, expected from Eswatini, Zambia, South Africa and Malawi and further commitments from the Czech Republic, India, Thailand and the Philippines. The research focus has widened from only adolescent parents to families with adolescents and with younger children; and the scope has increased from an estimated 8,000 to an estimated 77,000 sample size, in a larger number of countries, including conflict areas.
(2) The team provided remote capacity-building support to partners to strengthen data collection and management processes.
(3) Country-level ethical clearance has been secured in 8 of the participating countries, with the remainder in progress.
(4) The team has produced 3 academic publications and a study commentary, including a paper in collaboration with CRS/4Children South Sudan and the South Sudan Ministry of Health.
(5) COVID-19 escalated the global demand and scale-up of PLH vastly beyond anticipation. Pivoting in response to this need, we adapted our PLH in-person programmes into an innovative repertoire of open-source materials disseminated in coordinated collaboration with the World Health Organization, UNICEF and 240 NGOs. These resources have been accessed by 210.3 million people in 198 countries and territories and used in 34 national government COVID responses. The research team is developing and testing intensive digital parenting interventions to support parents in settings including impoverished and remote communities, working with policy makers in response to their need – made urgent and visible by the pandemic - for cost-effective development accelerators.
TAG: Citizen social science
Teen Advisory Groups engage with young people to explore their perspectives on adversities and early parenthood and available support to overcome these and foster resilience.
(1) Participatory research with adolescents and young people in South Africa and Kenya generated data about social issues chosen by the young people, captured in arts-based outputs of word association posters, poetry, music, and theatre.
(2) Research activities, co-generated with adolescents and conducted remotely, investigated in real-time how adolescents and young people were affected by the pandemic, with data collection through phone calls, messaging and groups on social media.
(3) Posters were presented at IAS 2021 on lessons learnt from remote research and health service experiences of South African adolescents and healthcare workers during COVID-19. The team are compiling a toolkit on remote methods.
(4) Data generated from COVID-19 activities were included in 2 UNICEF reports and a journal article and submitted to the IAS COVID-19 conference. Papers have been accepted for publication in 3 peer-reviewed journals. Findings from narrative analysis of two TAG member experiences will inform recommendations in a policy brief co-developed with UNICEF ESARA.
