Measuring Beliefs and Norms About Violence Against Women

NCT ID: NCT02202824

Last Updated: 2015-12-02

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 1557 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2014-07-31
• Study Completion Date: 2015-06-30

Brief Summary

The objective of our study was to determine the extent to which contextual information about the circumstances of intimate partner violence affects participants' responses to questions about their personal attitudes toward intimate partner violence.

Detailed Description

In national studies conducted throughout sub-Saharan Africa, survey data indicate that there is widespread acceptance of intimate partner violence by both men and women (Alio et al., 2011, Mann & Takyi, 2009, Rani et al., 2004, Uthman et al., 2009). For women, the proximate context of gender-unequal norms has important public health impacts. Men who report beliefs consistent with gender-unequal norms are more likely to be perpetrators of sexual violence (Shannon et al., 2012). Women are more likely to be victimized when they and their partners report concordant beliefs about the acceptability of intimate partner violence (Alio et al., 2011). And finally, women who live in areas characterized by gender-unequal norms about intimate partner violence are at greater risk for having their reproductive health compromised (Hung et al., 2012, Tsai & Subramanian, 2012). Accurate measurement of norms about intimate partner violence therefore has important implications for understanding the health risk environment for women.

The Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), which are nationally representative surveys conducted worldwide, have served as an important source of information on norms about intimate partner violence. However, a cross-country analysis of DHS data showed that minor deviations in survey wording may account for substantial cross-country variation in the extent to which women provide survey responses consistent with acceptance of intimate partner violence (Yount et al., 2011). Furthermore, in-depth interviews conducted among Bangladeshi women suggest that affirmative responses to DHS-style questions may better reflect their perceptions of prevailing norms or their individualized assumptions about contextual details rather than true beliefs about their acceptance of intimate partner violence (Schuler & Islam, 2008, Schuler et al., 2011). Taken together, these lines of inquiry suggest important limitations in the accuracy with which the DHS measure women's attitudes towards intimate partner violence.

Conditions

Domestic Violence

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Blinding Strategy: DOUBLE

Study Groups

Survey questionnaire version 1

Study participants will receive version 1 of the survey questionnaire

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Survey questionnaire

Intervention Type: OTHER

Each of the scale versions elicits personal attitudes toward intimate partner violence and perceived norms about intimate partner violence, in a different fashion

Survey questionnaire version 2

Study participants will receive version 2 of the survey questionnaire

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Survey questionnaire

Intervention Type: OTHER

Each of the scale versions elicits personal attitudes toward intimate partner violence and perceived norms about intimate partner violence, in a different fashion

Survey questionnaire version 3

Study participants will receive version 3 of the survey questionnaire

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Survey questionnaire

Intervention Type: OTHER

Each of the scale versions elicits personal attitudes toward intimate partner violence and perceived norms about intimate partner violence, in a different fashion

Interventions

Survey questionnaire

Each of the scale versions elicits personal attitudes toward intimate partner violence and perceived norms about intimate partner violence, in a different fashion

Intervention Type: OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Adults aged 18 years and older
• Emancipated minors aged 16-18 years
• Considers Nyakabare Parish their primary place of residence
• Capable of providing informed consent

Exclusion Criteria

• Minors younger than 18 years, with the exception of emancipated minors
• Does not consider Nyakabare Parish their primary place of residence
• Unable to communicate with research staff, e.g., due to deafness, mutism, or aphasia
• Persons with psychosis, neurological damage, acute intoxication, or an intelligence quotient less than 70, as determined in the field by non-clinical research staff in consultation with a supervisor

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Mbarara University of Science and Technology

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Massachusetts General Hospital

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Alexander Tsai

Assistant in Psychiatry

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Alexander C Tsai, MD, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Massachusetts General Hospital

Bernard Kaukhikire, MBA

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Mbarara University of Science and Technology

Locations

Mbarara University of Science and Technology

Mbarara, , Uganda

Countries

Uganda

References

Tsai AC, Kakuhikire B, Perkins JM, Vorechovska D, McDonough AQ, Ogburn EL, Downey JM, Bangsberg DR. Measuring personal beliefs and perceived norms about intimate partner violence: Population-based survey experiment in rural Uganda. PLoS Med. 2017 May 23;14(5):e1002303. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1002303. eCollection 2017 May.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 28542176 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

MH096620-S1

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id