# Schools Championing Safe South Africa: An Intervention Engaging Teachers and Students in Adolescent Prevention of HIV risk and Intimate Partner Violence

> **NIH NIH R34** · BROWN UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $201,424

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Adolescence presents an ideal developmental transition period for an integrated intervention targeting preven-
tion of HIV risk behaviors and intimate partner violence (IPV) including sexual violence. Adolescent boys in
particular, are at high risk for HIV and perpetration of IPV. Yet, few behavioral interventions integrate HIV-IPV
prevention and are tailored for the unique developmental needs of adolescent boys. Educational environments
play a vital role in shaping behavioral choices among adolescent boys. Specifically, teachers and student peers
serve as agents of change for adolescent boys’ HIV and IPV prevention needs in four important ways. First,
teachers and student peers influence community norms for appropriate adolescent male behaviors relating to
dating, relationships, and sexual violence within the school ecology. Second, teachers and student peers have
persistent contact with adolescents and thus, can play an influential role in adolescents’ lives as role models for
healthy norms. Third, teachers and student peers substantively motivate and reinforce protective behaviors re-
lating to prevention of HIV and IPV. Fourth, teachers are ideally prepared to deliver age- and developmentally-
tailored preventive interventions to adolescents because they are professionally trained to engage with adoles-
cents in age and developmentally appropriate teaching. Despite the important role of teachers and student peers
in promoting the health of adolescents, there are currently no HIV-IPV interventions in global priority settings for
these epidemics that target teachers and student peers in school environments. In this study, we will develop
and then investigate the acceptability and feasibility of Schools Championing Safe South Africa, an integrated
HIV-IPV intervention where teachers and student peers engage adolescent boys in a developmentally-tailored
approach to prevent adolescent HIV risk behavior and IPV using a social norms approach. We work in South
Africa, a country with the largest HIV epidemic and some of the highest rates of IPV in the world. We propose
the following specific aims: (1) Development aim – Gather behavioral and social norms data from teachers and
students (aiming for 75% of students) relating to student-level prevention of HIV and IPV in 3 schools to inform
the social norms campaign content for Schools Championing Safe South Africa; (2) Refinement aim – Refine
content for the social norms poster campaign and other intervention components using n=5-10 interviews with
teachers and k=3-6 focus groups with students in School #1 (poster campaign refinement school); and (3) Ac-
ceptability and feasibility aim – Conduct a randomized controlled pilot trial of the social norms campaign com-
paring School #2 (experimental intervention school) versus School #3 (wait list control school) with 1- and 6-
month follow-up to measure change among students at high risk for sexual risk behavior and IPV perpetration
...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10250613
- **Project number:** 1R34MH124469-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** BROWN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Caroline Chia Kuo
- **Activity code:** R34 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $201,424
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-07-01 → 2024-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10250613

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10250613, Schools Championing Safe South Africa: An Intervention Engaging Teachers and Students in Adolescent Prevention of HIV risk and Intimate Partner Violence (1R34MH124469-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10250613. Licensed CC0.

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