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Abstract
Introduction Violence against children is a health, human rights and social problem affecting approximately half of the world’s children. Its effects begin at prenatal stages with long-lasting impacts on later health and well-being. The Evidence for Better Lives Study (EBLS) aims to produce high-quality longitudinal data from cities in eight low- and middle-income countries—Ghana, Jamaica, Pakistan, the Philippines, Romania, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Vietnam—to support effective intervention to reduce violence against children. EBLS-Foundational Research (EBLS-FR) tests critical aspects of the planned EBLS, including participant recruitment and retention, data collection and analysis. Alongside epidemiological estimates of levels and predictors of exposure to violence and adversity during pregnancy, we plan to explore mechanisms that may link exposure to violence to mothers’ biological stress markers and subjective well-being.
Methods and analyses EBLS-FR is a short longitudinal study with a sample of 1200 pregnant women. Data are collected during the last trimester of pregnancy and 2 to 6 months after birth. The questionnaire for participating women has been translated into nine languages. Measures obtained from mothers will include, among others, mental and physical health, attitudes to corporal punishment, adverse childhood experiences, prenatal intimate partner violence, substance use and social/community support. Hair and dry blood spot samples are collected from the pregnant women to measure stress markers. To explore research participation among fathers, EBLS-FR is recruiting 300 fathers in the Philippines and Sri Lanka.
Ethics and dissemination The study received ethical approvals at all recruiting sites and universities in the project. Results will be disseminated through journal publications, conferences and seminar presentations involving local communities, health services and other stakeholders. Findings from this work will help to adjust the subsequent stages of the EBLS project.
- EPIDEMIOLOGY
- MENTAL HEALTH
- Prenatal diagnosis
- Child protection
- Community child health
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Footnotes
Contributors SV helped to plan the methods for Evidence for Better Lives Study-Foundational Research, drafted the paper, and took the lead in revisions. ALM, CH, AB, ADF, BM, CLW, JO, MPD, SS, SW, VVT, MT, PF, MM and DT helped to plan the methods, reviewed multiple drafts of the paper and approved the final version submitted. DC helped to develop the father questionnaire, reviewed multiple drafts of the paper and approved the final version submitted. YS helped to draft some sections of the paper and contributed with the revisions. ME is the principal investigator. He articulated the scientific bases of the study, reviewed multiple drafts of the paper and approved the final version submitted.
Funding The work of the Evidence for Better Lives Study was supported by the Jacobs Foundation, UBS Optimus Foundation, Fondation Botnar, the Consuelo Zobel Alger Foundation, the British Academy, the Cambridge Humanities Research Grants Scheme, the ESRC Impact Acceleration Account Programme, a Queensland University of Technology Postgraduate Research Award, Higher Degree Research Student Supplementary Research Funding from Queensland University of Technology, the University of Edinburgh College Office for the College of Arts, the Humanities and Social Sciences SFC ODA Global Challenges Internal Fund, the University of Cambridge GCRF Quality Research Fund and the Wolfson Professor of Criminology Discretionary Fund. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the funding bodies. YS is supported by the UKRI GCRF Accelerating Achievement for Africa’s Adolescents Hub (Grant Ref: ES/S008101/1)
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Competing interests None declared.
Patient consent for publication Obtained.
Ethics approval The Evidence for Better Lives Study protocol for recruitment and collection of data has been approved by the following ethics boards: University of Cambridge, School of Social Sciences (18/180) and the Human Biology Research Ethics Committee, UK HBREC.2018.27; University of the Philippines Manila - Research Ethics Board, Philippines, UPMREB 2018-558-01; The Institutional Ethics Committee of Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Vietnam, H2018/430; University of Kelaniya, Faculty of Medicine, Ethics Review Committee, Sri Lanka, P/208/11/2018; National Bioethics Committee (NBC), Pakistan, 4-87/NBC-364/19/1487; Consiliul Stiintific - Universitatea Babes-Bolyai, Romania, 18.362/11.10.2018; University of Cape Town, Department of Health, Western Cape Government, South Africa, WC_201911_009; Health Impact Assessment - Western Cape Government; University of Cape Town, Faculty of Health Sciences, Human Research Ethics Committee, South Africa, 057/2019. Health Research Ethics Committee (HREC) at Stellenbosch University, South Africa, N18/09/099; Ghana Health Service Ethics Review Committee, GHS-ERC008/11/18; University of the West Indies Ethics Committee, Jamaica, ECP 212, 17/18.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.