Milimo, J.
Zulu, J. M.
Svanemyr, J.
Munsaka, E.
Mweemba, O.
Sandøy, I. F. http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5567-4588
Funding for this research was provided by:
DIKU - NORPART programme (2016/10380)
Norges Forskningsråd (248121, 223269)
Article History
Received: 10 September 2020
Accepted: 24 June 2021
First Online: 9 July 2021
Declarations
:
: <b>Ethical Considerations</b>As this was a qualitative study within a Randomised Trial, and involving school-going female minors, there were specific ethical issues that arose in the research process.At the inception of the RISE Trial in 2016, written permission was obtained from the Ministry of Education while ethical approval was granted by the University of Zambia Biomedical Research Ethics Committee (<b>Ref. No. 021–06-15</b>). Further approval was granted by the Regional Ethics Committee of Western Norway (<b>Ref. No. 2015/895</b>). Ethical clearance to conduct the qualitative study was obtained from the University of Zambia Biomedical Research Ethics Committee (<b>IRB 0001131 of IORG 0000774, ref. No. 040–06-17</b>). Verbal consent was obtained from the head teachers of the six schools that participated in the study.Since this study involved minors, researchers upheld the value that children must be treated differently from adults as they are vulnerable and lack capacity to participate in research autonomously especially in studies that focus on their sexual and reproductive health [CitationRef removed].Written consent was obtained from the adolescent female participants’ parents/guardians. The signing of consent forms by parents/guardians was done at one of the bi-monthly meetings for parents/guardians prior to data collection. During this meeting, researchers clarified all concerns raised by the parents/guardians and explained the purpose and objectives of the study to them. Signing of assent forms by each participant was only done after researchers explained the purpose and objectives of the study and all questions and doubts from participants were clarified. Participants were informed that they had the right to decline participation or could withdraw their participation at any time during the study. The researchers assured participants that they were free to respond to questions in any way they felt like as no response was considered wrong, and that their responses would not be used against them in any way. This was done to mitigate the power imbalances between researchers and participants and to create a child-friendly atmosphere that facilitated freedom of expression for the participants [CitationRef removed, CitationRef removed].Researchers maintained anonymity and confidentiality of participants throughout the study. Accordingly, researchers ensured no names or personal identities of participants or schools were disclosed in the transcripts and study report or manuscripts.All IDIs and FGDs were conducted in safe and conducive classrooms deliberately prepared for the purpose in order to avoid any disruptions, physical and/or psychological harm on the participants. In addition, disruptions to participants’ normal schedules were minimized by ensuring that data collection was done according to participants’ free time preferences.Participants were each paid K30 (approximately US$3 PPP 2016) after IDIs and FGDs. This amount was considered fair for a girl-child in a Zambian rural setting and could not unduly excite participants.
: Not applicable.
: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.