TY - JOUR TI - A hybrid digital parenting programme to prevent abuse of adolescents in Tanzania: study protocol for a pragmatic cluster-randomised controlled trial N1 - © The Author(s) 2024. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article?s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article?s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecom? mons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data. ID - discovery10187437 Y1 - 2024/02/13/ UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-023-07893-x PB - Springer Science and Business Media LLC JF - Trials VL - 25 A1 - Baerecke, Lauren A1 - Ornellas, Abigail A1 - Wamoyi, Joyce A1 - Wambura, Mwita A1 - Klapwijk, Jonathan A1 - Chetty, Angelique N A1 - Simpson, Ashlin A1 - Janowski, Roselinde A1 - de Graaf, Kristen A1 - Stern, David A1 - Clements, Lily A1 - te Winkel, Esmee A1 - Christine, Laetitia A1 - Mbosoli, Gervas A1 - Nyalali, Kija A1 - Onduru, Onduru Gervas A1 - Booij, Anna A1 - Mjwara, Sussie N A1 - Tsoanyane, Sibongile A1 - Mshana, Gerry A1 - Mwakitalu, Mbutolwe Esther A1 - Melendez-Torres, GJ A1 - Calderon, Francisco A1 - Awah, Isang A1 - Green, Ohad A1 - Vallance, Inge A1 - Somefun, Oluwaseyi A1 - Gardner, Frances A1 - Sherr, Lorraine A1 - Martin, Mackenzie A1 - Lachman, Jamie M A1 - Cluver, Lucie D SN - 1745-6215 N2 - Background: Evidence-based parenting programmes have strong evidence in preventing and mitigating violence, but in-person programmes are challenging to deliver at scale. ParentApp is an open-source, offline-first app-based adaptation of the Parenting for Lifelong Health for Parents and Teens programme to promote playful and positive parenting, reduce risks for sexual violence victimisation, and prevent violence against adolescents. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of ParentApp compared to an attention-control group.// Methods: This study is a two-arm pragmatic cluster-randomised controlled trial to test whether ParentApp reduces adolescent physical abuse, emotional abuse, and sexual violence risks and victimisation at 1 month and 12 months post-intervention. Caregivers of adolescents aged 10?17 years and their adolescent children (N?=?2400 caregiver-adolescent dyads) will be recruited in urban and peri-urban communities in the Mwanza region of Tanzania. A total of 80 study clusters will be stratified and randomised (1:1) to the intervention group, who will receive ParentApp with support through a WhatsApp group, or to an attention-control group, who will receive a water, sanitation, and hygiene app. Quantitative data will be collected through outcomes questionnaires with caregivers and adolescents, administered at baseline, 4 months post-baseline, and 16 months post-baseline, as well as through routine implementation data and ParentApp engagement data. Qualitative data will be collected through individual interviews and focus groups with caregivers, adolescents, and implementing partner staff.// Discussion: App-based interventions have the potential to expand access to evidence-based parenting support, but currently lack rigorous evidence in low- and middle-income countries. This is the first known randomised control trial of a hybrid digital parenting programme to prevent the abuse of adolescents in low- and middle-income settings.// Trial registration: The trial was registered on the Open Science Framework on 14 March 2023, registration: OSF.IO/T9FXZ. AV - public ER -