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Methods: We utilized data from the Suubi-Maka study, a two-arm NIMH-funded cluster-randomized trial for orphaned adolescents (2008-2012). A total of 346 adolescents-caregivers (dyads) from 10 rural public primary schools were randomly assigned to either the control group (n = 167 dyads) receiving usual care for school-going orphaned children (such as lunch and learning materials) or the treatment group (n = 179 dyads) receiving a family economic empowerment intervention (focused on a matched savings account), financial planning and management workshops. Data were collected at baseline, at 12 month and 24 month follow-ups. This study used data from the three time points. We used mixed-effects linear regression analysis to examine the effect of the intervention on gender norm beliefs measured by a 10-item scale adapted from the Attitudes toward Women Scale for Adolescents (AWSA).
Results: Adolescents’ mean age was 13.38 years and females constituted 65% of the sample. Although we did not detect significant main effects between groups, we identified significant effects across time χ2(2) = 204.71, p < 0.001.
Conclusions and Implications: Across time, participants in the intervention arm increased in their egalitarian gender norms beliefs more than participants in the control arm. Based on our findings, we conclude that research and policy efforts aimed at addressing traditional gender norm beliefs among vulnerable adolescents must include economic empowerment components.