Schafer Moa, Lachman Jamie, Zinser Paula, Calderón Alfaro Francisco Antonio, Han Qing, Facciola Chiara, Clements Lily, Gardner Frances, Haupt Ronnie Genevieve, Sheil Ross
Centre for Evidence Based Intervention, Department of Social Policy and Intervention, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Centre for Social Science Research, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
JMIR Form Res. 2025 Jan 3;9:e58611. doi: 10.2196/58611.
Intimate partner violence (IPV) and violence against children are global issues with severe consequences. Intersections shared by the 2 forms of violence have led to calls for joint programming efforts to prevent both IPV and violence against children. Parenting programs have been identified as a key entry point for addressing multiple forms of family violence. Building on the IPV prevention material that has been integrated into the parenting program ParentText, a digital parenting chatbot, this pilot study seeks to explore parents' engagement with the IPV prevention content in ParentText and explore preliminary changes in IPV.
This study aimed to assess parents' and caregivers' level of engagement with the IPV prevention material in the ParentText chatbot and explore preliminary changes in experiences and perpetration of IPV, attitudes toward IPV, and gender-equitable behaviors following the intervention.
Caregivers of children aged between 0 and 18 years were recruited through convenience sampling by research assistants in Cape Town, South Africa, and by UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund) Jamaica staff in 3 parishes of Jamaica. Quantitative data from women in Jamaica (n=28) and South Africa (n=19) and men in South Africa (n=21) were collected electronically via weblinks sent to caregivers' phones using Open Data Kit. The primary outcome was IPV experience (women) and perpetration (men), with secondary outcomes including gender-equitable behaviors and attitudes toward IPV. Descriptive statistics were used to report sociodemographic characteristics and engagement outcomes. Chi-square tests and 2-tailed paired dependent-sample t tests were used to investigate potential changes in IPV outcomes between pretest and posttest.
The average daily interaction rate with the program was 0.57 and 0.59 interactions per day for women and men in South Africa, and 0.21 for women in Jamaica. The rate of completion of at least 1 IPV prevention topic was 25% (5/20) for women and 5% (1/20) for men in South Africa, and 21% (6/28) for women in Jamaica. Exploratory analyses indicated significant pre-post reductions in overall IPV experience among women in South Africa (P=.01) and Jamaica (P=.01) and in men's overall harmful IPV attitudes (P=.01) and increases in men's overall gender-equitable behaviors (P=.02) in South Africa.
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first pilot study to investigate user engagement with and indicative outcomes of a digital parenting intervention with integrated IPV prevention content. Study findings provide valuable insights into user interactions with the chatbot and shed light on challenges related to low levels of chatbot engagement. Indicative results suggest promising yet modest reductions in IPV and improvements in attitudes after the program. Further research using a randomized controlled trial is warranted to establish causality.
亲密伴侣暴力（IPV）和针对儿童的暴力是具有严重后果的全球性问题。这两种暴力形式的交集促使人们呼吁开展联合项目，以预防IPV和针对儿童的暴力。育儿项目已被确定为应对多种形式家庭暴力的关键切入点。在已整合到育儿项目ParentText（一个数字育儿聊天机器人）中的IPV预防材料的基础上，本试点研究旨在探索家长对ParentText中IPV预防内容的参与度，并探索IPV的初步变化。
本研究旨在评估家长和照料者对ParentText聊天机器人中IPV预防材料的参与程度，并探索干预后IPV经历和实施情况、对IPV的态度以及性别平等行为的初步变化。
南非开普敦的研究助理以及牙买加3个教区的联合国儿童基金会（UNICEF）牙买加工作人员通过便利抽样招募了0至18岁儿童的照料者。通过使用开放数据工具包发送到照料者手机的网络链接，以电子方式收集了牙买加（n = 28）和南非（n = 19）女性以及南非（n = 21）男性的定量数据。主要结果是IPV经历（女性）和实施情况（男性），次要结果包括性别平等行为和对IPV的态度。描述性统计用于报告社会人口学特征和参与结果。卡方检验和双尾配对相关样本t检验用于调查预测试和后测试之间IPV结果的潜在变化。
南非女性和男性与该项目的平均每日互动率分别为每天0.57次和0.59次互动，牙买加女性为每天0.
