Browsing by Author "Hecker, Tobias"

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    Factors Contributing to Violent Discipline in the Classroom: Findings From a Representative Sample of Primary School Teachers in Tanzania
    (SAGE, 2021) Masath, Faustine Bwire; Hinze, Laura; Nkuba, Mabula; Hecker, Tobias
    The need for intervention strategies aiming to reduce teachers’ use of violent discipline methods has been expressed repeatedly, especially for countries where this practice is socially and legally accepted. Nevertheless, initial targets for interventions are not clearly identified, as factors contributing to teachers’ use of violence are still understudied. In the present study, we examined the interplay between teachers’ own experiences of violence, their attitudes, current stress, and their use of violent discipline in a representative sample of 173 Tanzanian primary school teachers (53.7% female, Mage = 38.1 years, SDage = 10) using structural equation modeling. Our model showed good model fit (χ2 [48, n = 173] = 78.058 (p = .004), CFI = .962, TLI = .948, RMSEA = .060 [90% CI [.034, .084], PCLOSE = .233], SRMR = .048). Results indicated direct associations between positive attitudes toward violent discipline (β = .41), stress (β = .23), and teachers’ own experiences of violence (β = .21) with teachers’ use of violence. Teachers’ own experiences of violence were significantly associated with positive attitudes (β = .39), and these significantly mediated the association between teachers’ own experiences of violence and their use of violent discipline (β =.23). Our findings underscore the relevance of past experiences, societal norms, and current working conditions in understanding teachers’ violence against students. Interventions aiming to reduce teachers’ use of violent discipline may focus on stress management, societal norms, personal beliefs on violent discipline, and how teachers’ own previous experiences of violence may influence teacher’s disciplining behavior.
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    Mental health problems moderate the association between teacher violence and children’s social status in East Africa: A multi-informant study combining self- and peer-reports
    (Cambridge University Press, 2021) Hecker, Tobias; Dumke, Lars; Neuner, Frank; Masath, Faustine Bwire
    School victimization has been negatively associated with children’s social status. However, previous studies have primarily focused on peer victimization, leaving a significant knowledge gap regarding violence by teachers.We hypothesized that, when almost all children experience violence by teachers, not only the experience of violence, but also other factors, for example, mental health problems, may influence children’s social preference and centrality.We therefore examined potential moderation effects of children’s internalizing and externalizing problems. We implemented a multistage cluster randomized sampling approach to randomly chose fifth- and sixth-grade students from primary schools throughout Tanzania. Using a multi-informant approach, data were collected from 643 children (51.0% girls, Mage = 12.79 years). Results showed inconsistent direct associations between teacher violence and social status, whereas mental health problems were consistently associated with lower social status. Significant interaction effects were found for internalizing problems; that is, teacher violence was associated with lower social status for increasing internalizing problems. However, no interaction effects were found for externalizing problems. The findings underline the burden of exposure to violence by teachers and the importance of mental health for children’s social functioning. Knowledge about interrelations can be applied in interventions to effectively reduce violence by teachers toward students.
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    Psychopathology mediates between maltreatment and memory functioning in Burundian refugee youth
    (Elsevier, 2021) Scharpf, Florian; Mueller, Sven C; Masath, Faustine Bwire; Nkuba, Mabula; Hecker, Tobias
    Background: The detrimental impact of child maltreatment on children and adolescents' academic achievement and later socioeconomic wellbeing is well known. However, it is still unclear (1) whether maltreatment is actually linked to youth's long- and short-term memory deficits and (2) whether potential impairments are due to maltreatment per se or related psychopathology. Objective: Based on the Attentional Control Theory, we investigated a mediational model in which maltreatment would be related to psychopathology (internalizing symptoms, posttraumatic stress symptoms, posttraumatic cognitions), which would in turn be related to impaired memory functioning. Participants and setting: We drew on a sample of 155 Burundian refugee youth (aged 11 to 15) currently living in refugee camps in Tanzania and at high risk of experiencing ongoing maltreatment by parents. Methods: Youth reported on their experiences of maltreatment and psychopathology in structured clinical interviews and completed visuospatial memory tasks involving a short-term and a working memory component (Corsi Block Tapping Test) and delayed recall from long-term memory (Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure). Results: Structural equation modeling showed that psychopathology mediated the association between increased maltreatment and reduced working memory capacity (β = −0.07, p = .02), with a trend towards mediation for short-term memory (β = −0.05, p = .06). Higher levels of maltreatment, but not psychopathology, were directly linked to long-term memory deficits (β = −0.20, p = .02). Conclusions: Preventive efforts targeting maltreatment and interventions focusing on related psychopathology are needed to counter memory deficits and their potential negative implications for academic and socioeconomic outcomes.
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    Psychopathology mediates between maltreatment and memory functioning in Burundian refugee youth
    (ELSEVIER, 2021) Scharpf, Florian; Mueller, Sven, C.; Masath, Faustine Bwire; Nkuba, Mabula; Hecker, Tobias
    Background: The detrimental impact of child maltreatment on children and adolescents' academic achievement and later socioeconomic wellbeing is well known. However, it is still unclear (1) whether maltreatment is actually linked to youth's long- and short-term memory deficits and (2) whether potential impairments are due to maltreatment per se or related psychopathology. Objective: Based on the Attentional Control Theory, we investigated a mediational model in which maltreatment would be related to psychopathology (internalizing symptoms, posttraumatic stress symptoms, posttraumatic cognitions), which would in turn be related to impaired memory functioning. Participants and setting: We drew on a sample of 155 Burundian refugee youth (aged 11 to 15) currently living in refugee camps in Tanzania and at high risk of experiencing ongoing maltreatment by parents. Methods: Youth reported on their experiences of maltreatment and psychopathology in structured clinical interviews and completed visuospatial memory tasks involving a short-term and a working memory component (Corsi Block Tapping Test) and delayed recall from long-term memory (Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure). Results: Structural equation modeling showed that psychopathology mediated the association between increased maltreatment and reduced working memory capacity (β = -0.07, p = .02), with a trend towards mediation for short-term memory (β = -0.05, p = .06). Higher levels of maltreatment, but not psychopathology, were directly linked to long-term memory deficits (β = -0.20, p = .02). Conclusions: Preventive efforts targeting maltreatment and interventions focusing on related psychopathology are needed to counter memory deficits and their potential negative implications for academic and socioeconomic outcomes.
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    Reducing violent discipline by teachers using Interaction Competencies with Children for Teachers (ICC-T): study protocol for a matched cluster randomized controlled trial in Tanzanian public primary schools
    (BMC, 2020) Masath, Faustine Bwire; Hermenau, Katharin; Nkuba, Mabula; Hecker, Tobias
    Background: Despite the existing national and international plans of action to end violent discipline strategies used by teachers in schools, they still prevail in Tanzanian schools. This underlines the need to implement school-based interventions that aim at reducing violent discipline by teachers. In this study, we will evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of the preventative intervention Interaction Competencies with Children – for Teachers (ICC-T) in Tanzanian primary schools. Following its success in secondary schools, we hypothesize that the intervention will reduce teachers’ positive attitudes towards and their use of violent discipline at school. Methods/design: The study will be conducted in six randomly selected regions in Tanzania. We have already randomly selected two schools in each region (12 in total) that fulfilL our inclusion criteria. From each region, one school will be randomly assigned to the intervention and the other to the monitoring group (no intervention). Eighty students between the ages of 9 to 12 years (N = 960) and 20 teachers from each school (N = 240) will be included in the trial. We will collect data directly before the intervention (t1) and 6 months after the intervention (t2) both at intervention and monitoring schools. Using guided questionnaire assessments, we will measure violence by teachers using students’ reports on their exposure to and teachers’ reports on their use of violence using the Conflict Tactics Scale. Furthermore, we will assess teachers’ positive attitudes towards violent discipline using a modified version of the Conflict Tactic Scale. The feasibility of the intervention will be evaluated using purpose-built measures assessing the demand, applicability, acceptability, and integration of core elements into daily work in the participating schools. Discussion: The proposed study will allow us to test the feasibility and effectiveness of an intervention aiming to reduce positive attitudes towards and the use of violent discipline by teachers in school settings. With the reduction of violent discipline by teachers, this study contributes to national and international efforts towards ending violence against children as well as the attainment of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals that also aim to prevent all types of maltreatment of children.
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    A socio‑ecological analysis of risk, protective and promotive factors for the mental health of Burundian refugee children living in refugee camps
    (Springer, 2020) Scharpf, Florian; Mkinga, Getrude; Masath, Faustine Bwire; Hecker, Tobias
    Children and adolescents’ mental health risk and resilience arise from a complex interplay of factors on several socioecological levels. However, little is known about the factors that shape the mental health of refugee youth living in refugee camps close to ongoing conflict. We conducted a cross-sectional study with a representative sample of 217 Burundian refugee children aged 7–15 and their mothers residing in refugee camps in Tanzania to investigate associations between risk, protective and promotive factors from various ecological levels (individual, microsystem, exosystem), and children’s post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, internalizing and externalizing problems, and prosocial behavior. Data were collected using structured clinical interviews and analyzed using multiple regression models. Exposure to violence across all contexts and engagement coping were risk factors for PTSD symptoms and internalizing problems, while only violence by mothers seemed to increase children’s vulnerability for externalizing problems. A differential impact of violence exposures on prosocial behavior was observed. Higher-quality friendships appeared to protect youth from PTSD symptoms and externalizing problems, while they also promoted children’s prosocial behavior, just as mothers’ social support networks. Prevention and intervention approaches should integrate risk, protective and promotive factors for refugee youth’s mental health across multiple ecological contexts and take into account context-specific and adaptive responses to war and displacement.