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CIDACS

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Investigating the Impact of Cash Transfers on Youth Mental Health



The Aim of the Study: 


Led by Dr. Daiane Machado (PI, Harvard Medical School), the CIDACS study aims to uncover how conditional cash transfers influence mental illnesses among the youth by identifying key social drivers and mechanisms. Conditional cash transfers are amounts given to households on the condition that they comply with certain pre-defined requirements.

The Background:


Physical, emotional, and social changes, including exposure to poverty, abuse, or violence, increases youth vulnerability to mental illness. Addressing these issues can lead to improved outcomes at the population level and better cost-effectiveness for health services. Cash transfer programs have been a promising way to address social drivers for poor mental health.

However, it is still unclear which pathways and mechanisms explain the association between socioeconomic support and lowering the burden of mental illness among the youth.
 

The Project Plan:


This study analyzes large datasets using robust methodologies to identify the association between being beneficiaries of the Conditional Cash Transfer program, called the Bolsa Família Program (BFP), and mental illness and its long-term effects. This alaysis will assist in:

  • testing four mechanisms and pathways (i. reducing parental mental illness; ii. increasing school retention; iii. reducing exposure to violence; iv. decreasing impulsivity) of the social-economic intervention on reducing mental illness among youth
     
  • evaluating whether equity is a moderator of the effectiveness of the cash transfer program
     
  • investigating early life exposures and intergenerational aspects to forecast the impact of socioeconomic changes and cash transfers mitigation effects in Brazil until 2030, also modeling the impact of the current COVID-19 related economic recession

 

Supporters and Project Duration:
 

The CIDACS project is generously supported by the National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Health, USA, with a study period of 2021-2026.

To read more about the project visit: NIH Report