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Introduction: Parenting programmes may reduce risk of violence against children and improve\ud child wellbeing. However, additional economic support may be necessary in highly-deprived rural\ud communities in sub-Saharan Africa. Furthermore, delivering programmes within farmer groups may\ud increase male caregiver recruitment and engagement.\ud Methods: A parallel cluster randomised controlled trial examined the combined and separate\ud effects of parenting and economic strengthening programmes on reducing violence against children\ud ages 0 to 18 years in farming communities in Tanzania (N=248 families; 63% male caregivers).\ud Eight villages were randomly assigned to four conditions (2:2:2:2): 1) 12-session parenting\ud programme (N=60); 2) agribusiness training (N=56); 3) parenting and agribusiness combined\ud (N=72); 4) control (N=60). Parent-report, child-report, and early childhood observation assessments\ud were conducted at baseline, mid-treatment, and post-treatment. Primary outcomes were child\ud maltreatment and parenting behaviour. Secondary outcomes included corporal punishment\ud endorsement, parenting stress, parent/child depression, child behaviour, economic wellbeing, and\ud child development (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02633319).\ud Results: At post-treatment, parents and children receiving the combined interventions reported less\ud maltreatment (parents: IRR=0.40, 95%CI [0.24,0.65]; children: IRR=0.40, 95%CI [0.17,0.92]).\ud Parents reported reduced endorsement of corporal punishment (Dw=-0.43, 95%CI [-0.79,0.07]) and\ud fewer child behaviour problems (Dw=-0.41, 95%CI [-0.77,-0.05]). Parents in parenting-only villages\ud reported less abuse (IRR=0.36, 95%CI [0.21,0.63]) and fewer child behaviour problems (Dw=-0.47,\ud 95%CI [-0.84,-0.11]). Parents in agribusiness-only villages reported fewer child behaviour\ud problems (Dw=-0.43, 95%CI [-0.77,-0.08]) and greater household wealth (Dw=0.57, 95%CI\ud [0.08,1.06]). However, children in agribusiness-only villages reported increased physical abuse (IRR=2.26, 95%CI [1.00,5.12]) and less positive parenting (Dw=-0.50, 95%CI [-0.91,-0.10]). There\ud were no other adverse effects.\ud Conclusion: Parent training may be the active ingredient in reducing maltreatment in farmer groups\ud with majority male caregivers, while agribusiness training programmes may have unintended\ud negative consequences on children when delivered alone. Locating parenting support in existing\ud farmer groups can engage a much higher proportions of fathers than stand-alone programmes.

Background: Research on emotional child abuse in sub–Saharan Africa\ud is scarce. Few studies thus far have examined prevalence, risk and\ud protective factors for emotional child abuse or the associations between\ud emotional abuse and girls’ health.\ud Methods: A nationally representative two–stage, cluster–sampled,\ud household survey of females aged 13–24 years (n=1244) on childhood\ud abuse victimisation was conducted. Participants completed interviewer–assisted\ud questionnaires. Associations between emotional abuse and\ud putative risk, and protective factors and health outcomes were analyzed\ud using separate logistic regression models accounting for sampling design.\ud Marginal effects of cumulative risk factors for emotional abuse\ud victimisation were examined.\ud Results: Lifetime prevalence of emotional abuse was 28.5% with 58.3%\ud of these girls reporting many abusive incidents. The most common perpetrators\ud were female (27.8%) and male (16.7%) relatives and, more\ud rarely, biological parents. Risk factors associated with emotional abuse\ud were frequent caregiver changes (odds ratio (OR) 1.42, 95% confidence\ud interval (CI) 1.03–1.970, poverty (OR 1.51, 95% CI 1.12–2.03), physical\ud abuse (OR 1.98, 95% CI 1.45–2.71) and sexual abuse (OR 2.22,\ud 95% CI 1.57–3.10) victimisation. Being close to one’s mother was a\ud protective factor (OR 0.88, 95% CI 0.80–0.97). Risk for emotional\ud abuse increased from 13% with no risk factors present to 58.4% –with\ud all four risk factors present. Health outcomes associated with emotional\ud child abuse were suicidal ideation (OR 1.85, 95% CI 1.30–2.63) and\ud feeling depressed (OR 1.89, 95% CI 1.31–2.71).\ud Conclusions: Girls in Swaziland experience high levels of emotional\ud abuse victimisation. Emotional abuse is associated with economic disadvantage,\ud family factors, other types of abuse victimisation and poor\ud mental health. Therefore, a holistic approach to prevention is needed,\ud incorporating poverty reduction and programmes to improve parent–\ud child relationships, reduce the use of harsh criticism, and change parenting\ud social norms.

Significance testing is widely used in social science research. It has long been criticised on statistical grounds and problems in the research practice. This paper is an applied researchers’ response to Gorard's (2016) ‘Damaging real lives through obstinacy: re-emphasising why significance testing is wrong’ in Sociological Research Online 21(1). He participates in this debate concluding from the issues raised that the use and teaching of significance testing should cease immediately. In that, he goes beyond a mere ban of significance testing, but claims that researchers still doing this are being unethical. We argue that his attack on applied scientists is unlikely to improve social science research and we believe he does not sufficiently prove his claims. In particular we are concerned that with a narrow focus on statistical significance, Gorard misses alternative, if not more important, explanations for the often-lamented problems in social science research. Instead, we argue that it is important to take into account the full research process, not just the step of data analysis, to get a better idea of the best evidence regarding a hypothesis.

Results from the DHA-Oxford-Learning-and-Behaviour study (DOLAB) on the benefits of DHA supplementation for childrens' sleep.

Childrens' sleep and fatty acids was investigated as a secondary outcome in the DHA-Oxford-Learing-and-Behaviour study (DOLAB).

Teaching outline for a tutorial in sociological theory giving a brief introduction in general and of rational action theory.

Teaching outline for a tutorial in sociological theory on mirco and macro links.

Epidemiological results from the DHA-Oxford-Learning-and-Behaviour study (DOLAB). Presented at the International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids (ISSFAL) conference 2012 in Vancouver.

Results from the DHA-Oxford-Learning-and-Behaviour study (DOLAB) on the benefits of DHA supplementation for childrens' sleep. \ud \ud \ud \ud See also the article:\ud \ud Fatty acids and sleep in UK children: subjective and pilot objective sleep results from the DOLAB study – a randomized controlled trial.\ud \ud (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/enhanced/doi/10.1111/jsr.12135/)

Teaching outline for a tutorial in sociological theory on social norms.

Childrens' sleep and fatty acids was investigated as a secondary outcome in the DHA-Oxford-Learing-and-Behaviour study (DOLAB).

This course outline for 8 tutorials was used in 2009 to teach the undergraduate paper in sociological theory. It has a focus on ideas from "analytical sociology" (Hedström 2004, 2009). Readings were taken from the reading list of the Department of Sociology, University of Oxford, compiled by Dr. Michael Biggs.

Teaching outline for a tutorial in sociological theory on collective action.

Poster on the primary outcomes from the DHA-Oxford-Learning-and-Behaviour study (DOLAB): randomized controlled trial.

Epidemiological results from the DHA-Oxford-Learning-and-Behaviour study (DOLAB). \ud \ud Presented at the International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids (ISSFAL) conference 2012 in Vancouver.