ParentApp for Teens in Tanzania
Principal investigator: Professor Lucie Cluver and Dr Joyce Wamoyi
Funded by: UKRI GCRF Accelerating Achievement for Africa’s Adolescents Hub, GCRF OUI Sustainable Impact Fund, Oak Foundation, the LEGO Foundation, the European Research Council, and Wellspring Philanthropic Fund
Start date: 2019
Project outline
Overview
ParentApp for Teens is a blended-digital parenting programme for caregivers of adolescents aged 10 to 17. It supports caregivers to build stronger relationships with teenagers, use positive parenting strategies and reduce the risk of violence against adolescents at home and in the community.
The Tanzania study evaluates a blended-digital parenting intervention designed to strengthen family relationships, reduce violence against adolescents and support adolescent wellbeing. The programme combines offline app content with remote WhatsApp-based support groups, making it more accessible for families who may have limited or unreliable internet access. It is a part of the Global Parenting Initiative and builds on the Parenting for Lifelong Health suite of open-access parenting programmes.
Significance
Adolescence can be a period of increased risk for violence, conflict at home and pressure on family relationships. Parents and caregivers often need support, but in-person parenting programmes can be costly and difficult to scale.
ParentApp for Teens addresses this challenge through a blended-digital parenting programme that combines app-based content with remote facilitator support. The study contributes to understanding how effective violence prevention interventions can reach larger numbers of families in low-resource settings, while adding to a growing evidence base on digital and hybrid parenting programmes for parents of adolescents.
Implementation
The project builds on earlier feasibility, acceptability and optimisation work in South Africa and Tanzania. The main study tested ParentApp for Teens through a large cluster randomised trial involving caregivers and adolescents in Mwanza, Tanzania.
The programme provides parenting content through an app and offers additional support through WhatsApp groups. It focuses on positive caregiver-teen relationships, non-violent discipline, communication, caregiver wellbeing, adolescent safety and family problem-solving.
Partners and setting
The study was conducted in Mwanza, Tanzania, in collaboration with national and local research and implementation partners. Key partners include the National Institute for Medical Research in Tanzania, the University of Cape Town, UNICEF Tanzania, IDEMS International, Clowns Without Borders South Africa and a local implementing partner Investing in Children and their Societies.
Ongoing development
In 2025, the team also secured additional UNICEF funding to integrate online sexual abuse prevention content into ParentApp for Teens. This work will strengthen the programme’s support for caregivers and adolescents in responding to risks that can affect young people online as well as offline.
Ashlin Simpson (University of Cape Town)
Nicole Chetty (University of Cape Town)
Dr Abigail Ornellas (University of Cape Town)
Oluwaseyi Somefun (University of Cape Town)
Mackenzie Martin (Department of Social Policy and Intervention)
Kristen de Graaf (Department of Social Policy and Intervention)
Dr David Stern (IDEMS International)
Lauren Baerecke (University of Cape Town)
Jonathan Klapwijk (Department of Social Policy and Intervention)
Roselinde Janowski (Department of Social Policy and Intervention)
- Baerecke, L., Ornellas, A., Wamoyi, J., Wambura, M., Klapwijk, J., Chetty, A. N., et al. (2024). A hybrid digital parenting programme to prevent abuse of adolescents in Tanzania: Study protocol for a pragmatic cluster-randomised controlled trial. Trials, 25(1), 119.
- Klapwijk, J., Melendez-Torres, G. J., Ornellas, A., Wambura, M., Chetty, A. N., Baerecke, L., et al. (2024). A hybrid digital parenting programme to prevent abuse of adolescents in Tanzania: Statistical analysis plan for a pragmatic cluster randomised controlled trial. Trials, 25(1), 446.
- Janowski, R., Green, O., Shenderovich, Y., Stern, D., Clements, L., Wamoyi, J., et al. (2023). Optimising engagement in a digital parenting intervention to prevent violence against adolescents in Tanzania: Protocol for a cluster randomised factorial trial. BMC Public Health, 23(1), 1224.
- Janowski, R., Cluver, L. D., Shenderovich, Y., Wamoyi, J., Wambura, M., Stern, D., et al. (2025). Optimizing engagement with a smartphone app to prevent violence against adolescents: Results from a cluster randomized factorial trial in Tanzania. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 27, e60102.
- Awah, I., Green, O., Baerecke, L., Janowski, R., Klapwijk, J., Chetty, A. N., et al. (2022). “It provides practical tips, practical solutions!”: Acceptability, usability, and satisfaction of a digital parenting intervention across African countries. Psychology, Health & Medicine, 27(sup1), 107-123.
- Ornellas, A. (2025). Digital parenting interventions to prevent violence against adolescents: Lessons from the ParentApp for Teens trial for South African social work practice. Social Work/Maatskaplike Werk, 61(3), 672-676.