ParentText Optimisation Study - A factorial randomised controlled trial to optimise user engagement in a chatbot-led parenting intervention in South Africa: Study protocol for the ParentText Optimisation Trial

ParentText is a chatbot-led parenting intervention, with the aim of increasing positive parenting and reducing child maltreatment. The current optimisation trial aims to optimise user engagement in this a chatbot-led parenting intervention delivered to parents (i.e., any adult responsible for the care and wellbeing of a child regardless of biological relationship) and their adolescent girls aged 10-17 years in South Africa. It will test the relative effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of two intervention components designed to support user engagement in the ParentText chatbot: 1) remotely facilitated WhatsApp support groups delivered to participating parents and 2) in-person sessions delivered to parents and their adolescent girls. Additionally, this study will investigate the effectiveness of selected intervention component levels on adolescent and parent behavioural, mental health, and educational outcomes. The ParentText Optimisation study is nested within a larger project implemented by mothers2mothers (m2m), a South African NGO, as part of their Children and Adolescents are My Priority (CHAMP) programme funded by USAID /PEPFAR. The study will be conducted across two districts in Mpumalanga Province – Ehlanzeni (mostly rural zones) and Nkangala (rural and peri-urban zones) – where CHAMP is implementing OVC/DREAMS Family Strengthening interventions to approximately 28,500 adolescent women and girls (between 10 and 17 years) and their caregivers in 2023.