Investigating links between adverse and protective childhood contexts and violence later in life: Analysis of cohort data in England, Brazil & Uganda
Lead Research Organisation:
UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
Department Name: Social Policy and Intervention
Abstract
Over one billion children experience physical, sexual or emotional violence every year and social inequalities in violence are large. The contexts children live, learn and play in can shape their health, employment, and educational outcomes. This project will generate new evidence on how adverse and protective childhood contexts affect children's use, or experiences of, interpersonal violence as they grow up.
We propose to draw on high-quality longitudinal data about children's lives, including experiences of violence, in three independent cohort studies in Brazil (birth to late childhood), England (birth to adulthood) and Uganda (late childhood to adulthood). Our multi-country research team consists of social epidemiologists and social scientists with strong links to the settings of each cohort study. To ensure analyses and findings are informed by a wide range of expertise and experiences we will consult local stakeholders (young people, civil society organisations, health workers and local government staff) in each study setting and researchers from different disciplines during research design and dissemination.
The World Health Organisation's (WHO) INSPIRE framework recommends changing laws, social norms, social safety nets, neighbourhood environments, households, and schools to prevent interpersonal violence. To advance such prevention efforts, violence researchers and practitioners need to know how childhood contexts shape violence later in life, and how contexts can interrupt or prevent violence later in life. Further, we need to understand if the adverse or protective effects of contexts differ for marginalised young people.
The first phase of this project will define and operationalise contextual measures: we theorise that adverse childhood contexts are homes, schools, and neighbourhoods with violence and deprivation, and protective childhood contexts high social connectedness and support. We will use data collected on contexts to operationalise contextual measures specific to each cohort and refine measures based on input from local stakeholders, young people, and researchers in each context. Findings from this phase will highlight new opportunities to apply advanced statistical methods to improve how contexts are measured and defined in violence research.
The second phase will test whether adverse childhood contexts increase the risk of violence later in life, and whether protective childhood contexts can mitigate this risk. We aim to conduct causal analyses of longitudinal data to uncover, for example, whether neighbourhood violence and deprivation in childhood could increase interpersonal physical or sexual violence years later - and whether a protective home environment at the same time, or later in life could prevent or interrupt these associations. Findings from this phase provide evidence for developing and situating contextual interventions to prevent violence as children grow up.
The third and final phase of the project will explore how the effects of contexts differ for young people from historically marginalised groups. By applying statistical methods to test if the adverse and protective effects of contexts differ by gender, disability, ethnicity, sexuality, and socioeconomic position, findings will highlight which young people are disproportionately impacted by adverse contexts or less likely to benefit from protective contexts.
Our approach offers opportunities to improve the use of contextual measures in research on violence and more broadly. Violence prevention efforts at contextual levels shift the loci of intervention away from the individual and are likely to benefit more people than individual-level behaviour change interventions. This research will generate new evidence from multiple countries that researchers and practitioners can use to realise the WHO INSPIRE framework on violence prevention and the Sustainable Development Goals related to violence.
We propose to draw on high-quality longitudinal data about children's lives, including experiences of violence, in three independent cohort studies in Brazil (birth to late childhood), England (birth to adulthood) and Uganda (late childhood to adulthood). Our multi-country research team consists of social epidemiologists and social scientists with strong links to the settings of each cohort study. To ensure analyses and findings are informed by a wide range of expertise and experiences we will consult local stakeholders (young people, civil society organisations, health workers and local government staff) in each study setting and researchers from different disciplines during research design and dissemination.
The World Health Organisation's (WHO) INSPIRE framework recommends changing laws, social norms, social safety nets, neighbourhood environments, households, and schools to prevent interpersonal violence. To advance such prevention efforts, violence researchers and practitioners need to know how childhood contexts shape violence later in life, and how contexts can interrupt or prevent violence later in life. Further, we need to understand if the adverse or protective effects of contexts differ for marginalised young people.
The first phase of this project will define and operationalise contextual measures: we theorise that adverse childhood contexts are homes, schools, and neighbourhoods with violence and deprivation, and protective childhood contexts high social connectedness and support. We will use data collected on contexts to operationalise contextual measures specific to each cohort and refine measures based on input from local stakeholders, young people, and researchers in each context. Findings from this phase will highlight new opportunities to apply advanced statistical methods to improve how contexts are measured and defined in violence research.
The second phase will test whether adverse childhood contexts increase the risk of violence later in life, and whether protective childhood contexts can mitigate this risk. We aim to conduct causal analyses of longitudinal data to uncover, for example, whether neighbourhood violence and deprivation in childhood could increase interpersonal physical or sexual violence years later - and whether a protective home environment at the same time, or later in life could prevent or interrupt these associations. Findings from this phase provide evidence for developing and situating contextual interventions to prevent violence as children grow up.
The third and final phase of the project will explore how the effects of contexts differ for young people from historically marginalised groups. By applying statistical methods to test if the adverse and protective effects of contexts differ by gender, disability, ethnicity, sexuality, and socioeconomic position, findings will highlight which young people are disproportionately impacted by adverse contexts or less likely to benefit from protective contexts.
Our approach offers opportunities to improve the use of contextual measures in research on violence and more broadly. Violence prevention efforts at contextual levels shift the loci of intervention away from the individual and are likely to benefit more people than individual-level behaviour change interventions. This research will generate new evidence from multiple countries that researchers and practitioners can use to realise the WHO INSPIRE framework on violence prevention and the Sustainable Development Goals related to violence.
Publications

Bhatia A
(2024)
Putting children's safety at the heart of violence research.
in Nature medicine
Related Projects
Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Award Value |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
ES/X001792/1 | 30/06/2023 | 31/10/2023 | £251,708 | ||
ES/X001792/2 | Transfer | ES/X001792/1 | 01/11/2023 | 29/04/2026 | £249,542 |
Description | This is an ongoing project with four main objectives and several key activities to support the completion of these objectives while supporting and training early career researchers on the team and more widely to design and conduct quantitative analyses of how adverse contexts shape interpersonal and individual-level violence outcomes. Our first objective was to define and operationalise measures of adverse childhood contexts (ACCs) and protective childhood contexts (PCCs) at the household, school, and neighbourhood level in each cohort. We have completed this in two out of the three cohorts. We have created two datasets with contextual measures of violence - 1) a dataset of neighbourhood-level contextual measures of violence based on the Pelotas Birth Cohort study and data from Pelotas, Brazil and 2) a dataset of school-level contextual measures of violence based on the CoVAC study and data from over 40 schools in Luwero, Uganda. These databases are the foundation for the analysis and are being used with individual-level data to analyse trajectories of violence later in life. To discuss and refine analysis plans, methods, and approaches, we have held regular meetings between early career researchers and mentors. These have been online and in person. Members of the research team have also attended methods training on multi-level methods to support their analysis roles for project objectives. We have also drafted a methods paper on how violence researchers can use contextual measures in their analysis and completed a literature review on contextual measures and health to examine how researchers have studied contextual measures of violence. Our second and third objectives were to quantify the impacts of early life ACCs and PCCs on later life physical and sexual violence victimisation and perpetration. We have completed analyses in the CoVAC and Pelotas cohorts and have drafted papers which we are currently finalising for submission to journals. We are yet to develop analyses in the ALSPAC cohort. Our fourth objective was to explore the equity dimensions. We are currently designing analyses that fall under this objective to examine how contextual violence differentially affects girls compared to boys and children with and without disabilities. This project has faced a few challenges which have affected the timeline of analyses related to project objectives. First, there have been significant delays to accessing one of the cohort datasets (ALSPAC, UK). Our data request was approved in September 2024, however we are yet to receive the data. While we have waited for the signed data sharing agreement, we have prepared a data analysis plan, including the contextual measures we will create and plan to use, however, analysis for this cohort data has been delayed until we can access the dataset. Our second challenge is related to the fact that the PI for this project moved institutions in November 2023, which resulted in some delays in collaborator contracts and moving the project to the University of Oxford from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. During this time, we were unable to spend on the project. We have also adjusted our timelines to reflect that one of the co-Investigators on the grant and the lead early career researcher for one of the cohort analyses was on maternity leave from October 2023-March 2024. Our two most significant achievements from this award have been: The development of novel contextual measures in two out of three of the cohorts and planned measures for the third cohort, and The development of a multi-country team of early career researchers with training on how to develop and apply contextual measures in violence research using cohort data The development of Net-VAC, a network of early career researchers interested in exploring how structures and contexts shape experiences of and use of violence as children grow up. This network has been growing since we first convened in 2024 and has been a key resource for the community of practitioners and researchers investigating contexts affecting violence against children. This network will also be a key resource in the dissemination of methods and findings from this project to a wide audience. Additionally, this project has facilitated new partnerships and supported existing collaborations for many follow-on opportunities which are described in greater detail in the narrative impact section. |
Exploitation Route | We plan for findings from this project to be taken forward by researchers exploring contextual effects of violence against children, policymakers seeking to improve contexts in which children live and play, and violence prevention programmes looking to create or improve interventions to prevent violence early in life. The project has also allowed the PI to train new PhD students on the use of contextual measures. We plan to disseminate our findings, methods and approaches in a variety of avenues to reach a breadth of practicing professionals and learners working on violence prevention, including through Net-VAC, published peer-reviewed papers, webinars, and YouTube recordings. We plan for the public videos to be accessible to a range of audiences (eg, advocates, researchers, programmers) as a teaching tool for engaging with and measuring contexts that affect violence against children. |
Sectors | Education Healthcare |
Description | Development of the Contexts and Violence Research Global Network (Net-VAC) This award supported the development of Net-VAC, a network of early career researchers interested in exploring how structures and contexts shape experiences of and use of violence as children grow up. Net-VAC is an active and ongoing network and consists of over 180 violence prevention researchers, policymakers, and activists from over 35 countries. We convened four meetings in 2024 to connect violence researchers, to provide a space for learning and sharing new methods for violence research, and to explore how to create structural and contextual measures using cohort or survey data. We held a meet-and-greet event at SVRI, to recruit additional members, to connect early career researchers and researchers in the field of violence prevention. Meetings have featured speakers from a variety of institutions including UNICEF, Dalhousie University, LSHTM, New York University, AfriChild Centre, University of Oxford. We have had events with speakers that have presented and discussed approaches to past and ongoing contextual analyses on violence with network members. Additionally, we held a panel of multisectoral speakers to discuss perspectives and updates following the first Global Ministerial to End Violence Against Children. Supported in-person workshop/meeting and mentorship at SVRI This award supported an in-person analysis workshop at the SVRI conference in 2024. This was an opportunity for the analysis team to discuss future analysis planning and address questions and challenges in developing contextual measures across the three datasets. This in-person meeting also provided an opportunity to discuss future collaborations, funding opportunities, and strengthen institutional partnerships. Supported a workshop to share methods and findings from the CoVAC analyses and discuss contextual analysis considerations in Kampala, Uganda Following development of the school-level contextual dataset based on the CoVAC study and related preliminary analysis, the team led a learning and reflection workshop with local practitioners and researchers interested in Child Protection in Kampala, Uganda. This early career researcher led workshop focused on measurement of adverse and protective school contexts and feedback centered on discussions of the historical and social context in Luwero, Uganda and surrounding areas inform variable selection, frame results, and discuss strengths and limitations of the analysis plan. The award has expanded the use of contextual measures in research on violence among our partners. Follow-on funding from this award This award provided a unique opportunity to strengthen the institutional relationships between the University of Oxford and AfriChild, which was only possible through the collaboration on this project. This strengthened collaboration resulted in the development of two successful grant proposals: 1) To the SDG Impact Grant to create LearnVACS: An open-access course on how to use and analyse the Violence Against Children and Youth Surveys (VACS) data. This forthcoming course (Spring/Summer 2025) was designed for a wide audience of researchers, practitioners, teachers, and advocates to learn about and better utilise the VACS datasets. Course topics include introduction to the VACS, ethical data colletion with vulnerable populations and groups, epidemiology and principles of researching VAC, how to construct violence variables in VACS data, science communication strategies, and case examples of research, policy, and programming that have used VACS data. 2) to the Grand Union DTP for a PhD studentship. This forthcoming PhD candidate will focus on disclosure and help seeking following sexual violence against children in Uganda. This award resulted in two additional submitted and pending funding applications to the John Fell Fund (University of Oxford) and to the Independent Social Research Fund, which build on project activities to explore changes in policy, global agendas, and theory related to the prevention of violence against children. Follow-on analyses and PhD opportunities from this award This award provided allowed the PI to develop two additional PhD projects. First, a PhD project to extend the analysis of neighbourhood effects on violence against children to include biomarker data and mental health outcomes was only possible due to a) the dataset funded through this award and b) the literature review we conducted as part of this award. This student is funded by Leverhulme Trust and started studies in the PIs Department in October 2024 and is co-supervised by the PI. Second, this award resulted in follow-on funding from the Grand Union DTP for a PhD studentship on disclosure and help-seeking following sexual violence against children in Uganda and how policy contexts support or inhibit disclosure of violence, which is based on the grant the PI and AfriChild co-developed Following from project activities, this award resulted in follow-on analyses: 1) a commentary from a multidisciplinary collaboration of researchers and practitioners to describe ethical collection of data on violence against children; and 2) a policy and practice content analysis on the country and institutional pledges submitted to the Global Ministerial to End Violence Against Children, to assess country and institutional participation in global policy processes, commitments, and prioritised actions to end violence against children. All these activities are supporting the development of a research area that focuses on how to analyse the social and structural determinants of violence against children with the focus on the institutional and societal contexts violence that generate violence. This award has allowed the PI and the other early career researchers on the grant to develop and expand this research area. |
First Year Of Impact | 2024 |
Sector | Education,Healthcare |
Impact Types | Societal |
Description | Data for action on the violence SDGs: a toolkit to analyse and interpret data on violence to inform programming and policy |
Amount | £15,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | University of Oxford |
Department | Social Sciences Division |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 05/2024 |
End | 05/2025 |
Description | ESRC Grand Union Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) collaborative doctoral studentship |
Amount | £21,000 (GBP) |
Organisation | AfriChild Centre |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
Country | Uganda |
Start | 09/2025 |
End | 03/2029 |
Title | Neighbourhood-level contextual measures of violence: Pelotas |
Description | A dataset of neighbourhood-level contextual measures of violence from maternal reports of neighbourhood crime and safety based on the Pelotas Birth Cohort study in Brazil. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2024 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | To support new analyses to explore the role of neighbourhood contexts on trajectories of violence in early childhood. |
Title | School-level contextual measures of violence: CoVAC |
Description | A dataset of school-level contextual measures of violence based on the CoVAC study and data from over 40 schools in Luwero, Uganda. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2024 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | These data will be combined with individual-level data to explore the role of school contexts on trajectories of violence |
Description | Development of Funding Applications |
Organisation | AfriChild Centre |
Country | Uganda |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | We led two applications for further funding in collaboration with AfriChild who is a partner on this grant. |
Collaborator Contribution | Co-writing and co-designing grant, offer of in-kind resources for the grants. |
Impact | Two completed and successful funding applications. |
Start Year | 2024 |
Description | Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI) Workshop |
Organisation | AfriChild Centre |
Country | Uganda |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | The research team at Oxford led and organised in-person analysis workshop at SVRI to discuss methodological approaches and techniques for analyses across all three teams. |
Collaborator Contribution | Early career researchers and mentors from partner institutions attended analysis workshop, engaged in discussion of analysis planning and methodological approaches and techniques for analyses. |
Impact | Deepened partnerships to support the analyses proposed in grant through an in-person workshop where we discussed analytical challenges, planned future analyses, and discussed opportunities for follow-on funding. |
Start Year | 2024 |
Description | Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI) Workshop |
Organisation | Federal University of Pelotas (UFPel) |
Department | 1982 Pelotas Birth Cohort |
Country | Brazil |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | The research team at Oxford led and organised in-person analysis workshop at SVRI to discuss methodological approaches and techniques for analyses across all three teams. |
Collaborator Contribution | Early career researchers and mentors from partner institutions attended analysis workshop, engaged in discussion of analysis planning and methodological approaches and techniques for analyses. |
Impact | Deepened partnerships to support the analyses proposed in grant through an in-person workshop where we discussed analytical challenges, planned future analyses, and discussed opportunities for follow-on funding. |
Start Year | 2024 |
Description | Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI) Workshop |
Organisation | London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | The research team at Oxford led and organised in-person analysis workshop at SVRI to discuss methodological approaches and techniques for analyses across all three teams. |
Collaborator Contribution | Early career researchers and mentors from partner institutions attended analysis workshop, engaged in discussion of analysis planning and methodological approaches and techniques for analyses. |
Impact | Deepened partnerships to support the analyses proposed in grant through an in-person workshop where we discussed analytical challenges, planned future analyses, and discussed opportunities for follow-on funding. |
Start Year | 2024 |
Description | Learning workshop in Kampala, Uganda |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Convened a workshop in Kampala, Uganda, led by early career researchers and the PhD student working on this project and by AfriChild. The workshop focused on discussing preliminary findings from the analyses of cohort data in Uganda. Discussions explored the strengths and limitations of our measures of adverse and protective school contexts from the CoVAC cohort which was based initially in Luwero, Uganda (wave 1). The workshop also included a presentation and discussion on the historical and social context of Luwero, Uganda to inform variable selection, frame results, and discuss strengths and limitations of the analysis plan. Attendees included local practitioners and researchers interested in child protection. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
Description | Net-VAC |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | A virtual network of researchers, programmers, policy makers, and advocates who study violence against children which was an aim of this grant. Meetings consist of research presentations, Q&As, panels and small group networking opportunities. Net-VAC is made up of over 180 violence prevention researchers, policymakers, and activists from over 35 countries. We convened four meetings in 2024 to connect violence researchers, to provide a space for learning and sharing new methods for violence research, and to explore how to create structural and contextual measures using cohort or survey data. In 2024, convened a meet-and-greet event at SVRI, to recruit additional members, to connect early career researchers and researchers in the field of violence prevention. Attendees shared information about their research and methodology relating to contextual measures and violence prevention research, programming and interventions. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024,2025 |
URL | https://www.spi.ox.ac.uk/investigating-links-between-adverse-and-protective-childhood-contexts-and-v... |