Norms, Beliefs, and Determinants of Harsh Parenting: Experimental Evidence from Zambia

Last registered on August 04, 2026
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Norms, Beliefs, and Determinants of Harsh Parenting: Experimental Evidence from Zambia
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0019275
Initial registration date
July 30, 2026

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
August 04, 2026, 9:46 AM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Last updated
August 04, 2026, 9:49 AM EDT

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

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Primary Investigator

Name
Pablo Álvarez-Aragón
Affiliation
University of Bologna
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Elisabetta de Cao
PI Affiliation
University of Bologna
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PI Name
Mathilde Lesueur
PI Affiliation
University of Bologna
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PI Name
Marta Grabowska
PI Affiliation
London School of Economics
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PI Name
Mylène Lagarde
PI Affiliation
London School of Economics
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2024-03-01
End date
2027-12-31
Keywords
Health
Additional Keywords
Parenting
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Corporal punishment and other forms of harsh discipline remain widespread in homes across sub-Saharan Africa. Yet little is known about how caregivers' acceptance of such practices depends on the child's offence, on the severity of the response, or on perceived social expectations. To answer that question, we designed a factorial vignette experiment and administer it to parents and caregivers of learners enrolled in 223 primary schools in Zambia. Each respondent is presented with a short scenario in which the vignette attributes are randomly assigned: the child's gender, the type of misbehaviour, and the mother's disciplinary response. After each vignette, respondents report their personal acceptance of the disciplinary response, their empirical and normative expectations about the community's views, how likely they would be to act in the same way, and their beliefs about the consequences of the response for the child — behavioural, relational, and developmental.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
de Cao, Elisabetta et al. 2026. "Norms, Beliefs, and Determinants of Harsh Parenting: Experimental Evidence from Zambia." AEA RCT Registry. August 04. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.19275-1.1
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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2024-09-01
Intervention End Date
2026-07-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
For each vignette shown to a respondent, we measure:
1. Personal acceptability of the adult's disciplinary response
2. Social expectations about the disciplinary response (normative and empirical expectations)
3. Personal behavioural attitude
4. Beliefs about the consequences of the disciplinary response for the child
The randomization of vignette attributes allows each of these outcomes to be estimated as a function of the type of offence, the severity and nature of the disciplinary response, and the child's gender — providing experimental identification of the determinants of adult attitudes, norms, and beliefs about harsh discipline.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The study is a factorial vignette experiment embedded in the endline survey of a cluster-randomised trial evaluating a comprehensive school health program in 225 primary schools in Zambia. The vignette experiment is administered to parents or guardians of learners enrolled in these schools.
Each respondent is presented with one vignette describing a scenario in which a mother reacts to a child's misbehaviour. Vignettes take place "today, in a community similar to yours" and involve a 10-year-old child. The attributes of each vignette are randomly assigned to the respondent from a factorial design:
(a) the child's gender.
(b) the type of misbehaviour ("accidentally knocks over and breaks a clay pot while playing in the yard", " refuses to help with household chores when the mother asks", " lies about having been to school during the day when they were not", " comes home at 21 hours when the mother expected them back by 17 hours", " takes money from the mother's purse without asking", or " beats another child")
(c) the disciplinary response (slaps the child across the face", "whips the child on the legs", "grounds the child and does not allow them to go out and play", or "sits the child down and explains why their behaviour was wrong").
This yields 2 × 6 × 4 = 48 unique vignettes.
For each vignette, respondents report: (A) whether they personally find the adult's behaviour acceptable; (B) how many members of their community — out of five — would find the behaviour acceptable, and how many would react in the same way; (C) how likely they themselves would be to act in the same way; and (D) their beliefs about the likely consequences for the child.
The random assignment of vignette attributes allows experimental identification of how respondents' attitudes, social expectations, self-projected behaviour, and beliefs about consequences vary with the type of offence, the severity and nature of the disciplinary response, and the child's gender. Content and wording of the scenarios were developed on the basis of focus group discussions and key informant interviews with mothers and fathers in Ndola.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer.
Randomization Unit
The randomization of vignettes was conducted at the individual level.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
Using baseline sample sizes as an upper bound:
- Parents: 13,255 (planned; will be lower at endline due to attrition)
Sample size: planned number of observations
Using baseline sample sizes as an upper bound: - Parents: 13,255 (planned; will be lower at endline due to attrition) - Teachers: 1,714 (planned; will be lower due to turnover) - Total planned: ~14,969 observations
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
Vignette experiment (unit = respondent):
The vignette experiment uses within-respondent factorial randomisation, so the "arms" are the cells of the factorial design. Each respondent is randomly assigned to one cell. Expected sample sizes per level (based on baseline sample of 13,255 parents/guardians):
(2 × 6 × 4 = 48 cells; ≈13,255 parents):
- By disciplinary response (4 levels — talk, ground, whip on legs, slap across face): ≈3,314 parents per level
- - By misbehaviour (6 levels — accidental, refuses chores, lies about school, comes home late, takes money, beats another child): ≈2,209 per level
- - By child gender (2 levels — boy, girl): ≈6,627 per level
- - Per full cell (misbehaviour × discipline × child gender): ≈276 parents
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
ERES Converge
IRB Approval Date
2023-10-12
IRB Approval Number
264865
IRB Name
National Health Research Authority
IRB Approval Date
2024-01-25
IRB Approval Number
NHREB001/25/01/2024
Analysis Plan