The 2015 National Baseline Study on Violence Against Children revealed the high incidence of child maltreatment in the Philippines: 80% of youth reported that they experienced some form of violence in their childhood; 66% experienced physical violence, with 60% of these cases occurring in the home. Parenting for Lifelong Health (PLH) – Philippines responds to the need to prevent child maltreatment and other forms of violence in Filipino families. PLH Philippines is a multisectoral collaboration involving Psychology faculty and graduate students of the Bulatao Center for Psychological Services in Ateneo de Manila University, Philippine Ambulatory Pediatric Association, Child Protection Network, University of Oxford, University of Cape Town in South Africa, and Bangor University in Wales. This project is supported by UNICEF, UBS Optimus Foundation, and DSWD. This project aims to culturally adapt an evidence-based parenting intervention to prevent child maltreatment, test the adapted program’s feasibility and acceptability among low-resource Filipino families, and ultimately test its effectiveness in decreasing child maltreatment via a randomized controlled trial (RCT).
The culturally adapted parenting intervention program, Masayang Pamilya Para sa Batang Pilipino (or MaPa), was tested via a randomized controlled trial (RCT) with 120 families who were beneficiaries of the national conditional cash transfer program, Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps). At post-test, families who participated in MaPa reported 53% less physical abuse, 44% less emotional abuse, and 40% less child neglect, and 43% less intimate partner violence compared to control group families.
The results of the project were shared with 65 stakeholders last April 19, 2017 in Eastwood Richmonde Hotel. These stakeholders came from UNICEF, Department of Social Welfare and Development (Central Office and Regional Field Offices), City Social Welfare and Development Office of Valenzuela City, Department of Education, Philippine General Hospital, Council for the Welfare of Children, Consuelo Foundation, Norfil Foundation, Inc., Philippine Ambulatory Pediatric Association, Plan International, Save the Children, Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University, and the University of the Philippines.
Future work aims to further test and bring to scale the MaPa program in other regions in the country. The research team of the Ateneo de Manila University is led by Dr Liane Peña Alampay of the Psychology Department and the Bulatao Center for Psychological Services.