MAMAS: Mentoring Adolescent Mothers at School

Summary

This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of an intervention designed to reduce STI/HIV incidence by increasing the number of adolescent mothers who re-enroll and remain in school. The objective of the intervention is to have older mentor mothers, who themselves were pregnant adolescents, to mentor younger adolescent mothers. Mentor mothers will provide ongoing psychosocial support, help navigate re-admission to school, and help facilitate access to an existing State-sponsored cash transfer, the child support grant (CSG), in the early postpartum period. Our combination social protection program will enhance resilience of young adolescent mothers to facilitate their return to school and thereby reduce HIV risk. The investigators will evaluate the efficacy of the intervention using a pre-test post-test randomized controlled trial design. Participants in the intervention will receive the Mentoring Adolescent Mothers At School (MAMAS) intervention and standard postpartum care. Those in the control arm will receive standard postpartum care. Additionally, for those participants randomized to the intervention arm, mentor mothers will use participatory visual methods (e.g., photovoice, cell-films, drawings) as part of the intervention itself. Last, among those participants randomized to the intervention arm and who return for their 9-month assessment, the investigators will conduct 20 in-depth interviews to understand the process of resilience development from their perspective.

Primary outcomes:

School outcomes (initial outcomes) HYP 1.1: Program participation will increase school enrollment HYP 1.2: Program participation will increase school engagement

HIV risk outcomes (intermediate outcomes) HYP 2.1: Program participation will reduce number of sexual partners HYP 2.2: Program participation will reduce inconsistent condom use HYP 2.3: Program participation will reduce intimate partner violence HYP 2.4: Program participation will decrease HIV/STI infection HYP 2.5 (for HIV+): Program participation will increase retention in care

Secondary outcomes:

HYP 5: Program participation will increase peer support HYP 6: Program participation will increase familial support HYP 7: Program participation will increase school re-admission HYP 8: Program participation will increase application to the child support grant HYP 9: Program participation will increase receipt of the child support grant

Conditions

• Human Immunodeficiency Virus
• Herpes Simplex Type II
• Chlamydia
• Gonorrhea
• Trichomonas Vaginitis

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Mentoring Adolescent Mothers at School (MAMAS)

Through the MAMAS program, 12 older mentor mothers, who themselves were pregnant adolescents, will mentor 240 younger adolescent mothers to provide ongoing psychosocial support, navigate re-admission to school, and facilitate access to an existing State-sponsored cash transfer, the child support grant (CSG), in the early postpartum period.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of KwaZulu

  collaborator OTHER

• University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

  collaborator OTHER

• Drexel University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Allison K Groves, PhD, MHS · Drexel University

Study Design

Allocation

NON_RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

14 Years

Max Age

19 Years

Sex

FEMALE

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2017-06-26

Primary Completion

2018-11-30

Completion

2018-11-30

Countries

• South Africa

Study Locations