Peer-reviewed article
Improving psychosocial well-being and parenting practices among refugees in Uganda: Results of the journey of life effectiveness trial
Lindsay Stark, Melissa Meinhart, Sabrina Hermosilla, Rehema Kajungu, Flora Cohen et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study evaluated the Journey of Life programme, a 12-session group-based curriculum for refugee caregivers in Uganda. The programme aimed to improve caregivers' mental health and parenting practices in a refugee settlement. The intervention significantly reduced caregiver mental distress, improved social support and functioning, and enhanced positive parenting behaviours while reducing attitudes that condone violence against children. The findings suggest that holistic parenting programmes can help refugee families cope with the effects of displacement.
Key points
- Mental distress among caregivers decreased significantly, with a moderate effect size of 0.70
- Parental warmth and affection increased substantially, showing the largest effect size of 0.74
- Attitudes towards violence against children improved significantly with an effect size of 0.68
- Social support and overall functioning both improved substantially in the intervention group
- The intervention was delivered as a 12-session group-based curriculum in a refugee settlement
Limitations
The study was conducted in one refugee settlement in Uganda, so findings may not generalise to other refugee contexts or host populations. The document does not provide information on long-term sustainability of effects or cost-effectiveness of the intervention.
Abstract
Abstract Caregivers play a critical role in mediating the impacts of forced displacement on children; however, humanitarian programming remains hampered by a lack of evidence-based programming. We present findings from an evaluation of a group-based curriculum delivered over the course of 12 sessions, journey of life (JoL). A waitlist-control quasi-experimental design was implemented in the Kiryandongo refugee settlement (intervention n = 631, control n = 676). Caregiver mental distress, measured using the Kessler-6, was the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes included (a) functioning, (b) social support and (c) caregiving attitudes and behaviors. Propensity score matching (PSM) and Cohen’s d estimates were used to examine the intervention effects. According to our primary PSM analysis, JoL led to significant improvements in mental distress (coef.: 2.33; p < 0.001), social support (coef.: 1.45; p < 0.001), functioning (coef.: 2.64; p < 0.001), parental warmth/affection (coef.: 2.48; p < 0.001), parental undifferentiated rejection (coef.: 0.49; p < 0.001) and attitudes around violence against children (VAC) (coef.: 1.98; p < 0.001). Evidence from Cohen’s d analysis underscored the value of the intervention’s effect on parental warmth/affection (0.74), mental distress (0.70) and VAC attitudes (0.68). This trial adds to the evidence on holistic parenting programming to improve the mental health and parenting outcomes among refugee caregivers.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Journey of Life (JoL) group-based curriculum delivered over 12 sessions to refugee caregivers
- Population
- Refugee caregivers in the Kiryandongo refugee settlement, Uganda (intervention n=631, control n=676)
Key finding
Mental distress improved significantly (coefficient: 2.33, p<0.001; Cohen's d: 0.70)