Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39723636›Full record

Trial reportThe International journal of social psychiatry2025

Pilot cluster randomised controlled trial of Stepping Stones and Creating Futures Plus to reduce emotional dysregulation among young men in rural areas and urban informal settlements in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa.

Princess Nyoni, Andrew Tomita, Smanga Mkhwanazi, Andrew Gibbs

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in The International journal of social psychiatry, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Princess NyoniSchool of Nursing and Public Health, Discipline of Public Health Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.ORCID 0000-0002-5560-0017
Andrew TomitaCentre for Rural Health, School of Nursing and Public Health, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.
Smanga MkhwanaziGender and Health Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Pretoria, South Africa.
Andrew GibbsCentre for Rural Health, School of Nursing and Public Health, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimEmotional dysregulation (ED) - the difficulty to control emotional responses to stressors - is a potential driver of intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration among young men in HIV endemic resource-limited settings. This two-armed pilot cluster randomised controlled trial investigated the effectiveness of Stepping Stones and Creating Futures Plus (SSCF+), a participatory gender transformative and livelihood strengthening intervention, on the emotional dysregulation (ED) among young men in South Africa (SA).

methodsA total of 163 young men ages 18 to 30 years were recruited in 30 clusters (friendship groups) in urban informal settlements and rural areas in KwaZulu-Natal, SA. Clusters were randomly allocated (1:1) to either the experimental SSCF+ or control arm, stratified urban/rural and participants were followed-up at 5 months. Intention-to-treat analysis based on generalised estimating equations (GEE) were fitted to quantify the impact of SSCF+ on the men's ED using the culturally tested short version of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale with 16 items (DERS-16).

resultsAt 5 months SSCF+ did not significantly reduce ED in the overall sample. However, SSCF+ had a significant impact on ED among the men at risk of depression at baseline (adjusted odds ratio = 0.12, 95% CI [0.03, 0.46],

conclusionSSCF+, a gender transformative and livelihoods strengthening intervention designed to address poverty and other socio-economic challenges, reduced ED among youth with depression challenges in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa.

Indexed as

Affective SymptomsEmotional RegulationIntimate Partner ViolenceAdolescentAdultHumansMalePilot ProjectsRural PopulationSouth AfricaUrban PopulationYoung AdultEmotional dysregulationmenmental healthSouth AfricaSSCF+ intervention

Identifiers

PMID39723636
PMCPMC12284326

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.