Effect of an intervention on attitudes towards domestic violence among Iranian girls

Objective: To evaluate the effect of an intervention based on the Precede-Proceed Model on attitudes towards prevention of Domestic Violence among Iranian girls. Methods: The randomised controlled trial was conducted during 2010-11 at 10 high schools in District 17 of Tehran Municipality in Iran. The subjects were divided into two equal groups of cases and controls. Components of the Precede-Proceed Model for planning, implementation and evaluation of the study. After need assessment, an appropriate environmental and educational intervention was implemented in the intervention group. Changes in predisposing, reinforcing, enabling factors and especially attitudes towards prevention of Domestic Violence immediately and two months after the intervention were assessed in by questionnaires based on the Precede- Proceed Model. SPSS 18 was used for statistical analyses. Results: There were 510 students who comprised the study population, with 255 individuals in each of the two groups. The intervention had significantly positive effect on predisposing, enabling and reinforcing factors immediately and two months after the intervention (p 0.05). Repeated measures analysis of variance showed a significant positive increase in attitude score in the intervention group from baseline to two months (p 0.001). Conclusion: The Precede-Proceed Model is one of the most widely used health planning models for identifying factors that influence health behaviours associated with domestic violence. Implementation of an educational programme based on the model among young girls was effective in changing attitude towards domestic violence.