Table 1.
Summary of study designs. Age range given where mean age is not provided
| Country | Design | Mean age (years) | Participants | Intervention and control | Conditionality | Mental health outcome | Follow-up (years) | Transfer amount (US$) | |
| Angeles et al46 | Malawi | Cluster RCT | 15–22 | Families defined as ‘ultra-poor’ or labour constrained (n=1336 households) |
Intervention: Malawi Social Cash Transfer Programme Transfer (n=652) Control: no transfer (n=640) |
Unconditional | Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale: (CES-D-10) | 2 | Variable based on households’ size and composition |
| Baird et al45 | Malawi | Cluster RCT | 15.3 | School-age girls in the low-income Zomba District (n=2049) | Intervention: conditional cash transfer (n=46 enumeration areas) or unconditional cash transfer (n=27 enumeration areas). Control: no transfer (n=15 enumeration areas) |
Conditional (80% school attendance) and unconditional (identical with no requirements on school attendance) | Psychological distress (anxiety, depressive symptoms and social dysfunction): General Health Questionnaire 12 (GHQ-12) | 5 | $1–5 per month to girls $4–10 per month to caregivers |
| Fernald and Gunnar43 | Mexico | Quasi-experimental | 4.0 | Children in households in low-income communities (n=1197) | Intervention: Oportunidades (n=554) Control: no transfer (n=762) |
Conditional: compliance with school and clinic requirements | Baseline and responsivity salivary cortisol | 3.5 | Equivalent to approximentely 20% increase of household income |
| Filmer and Schady52 | Cambodia | Quasi-experimental | 14.0 | Families of children selected for a scholarship (n=3800 scholarships) | Intervention: Scholarship programme cash transfer (n=missing) Control: no transfer (n=missing) |
Conditional: enrollment, regular attendance and satisfactory grade progress | Psychological distress: General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) | 1.5 | $45 or $60 three times per year |
| Kilburn et al40 | Kenya | Individual RCT | 16.8 | Poor families taking care of orphans and vulnerable children (n=1540 households) | Intervention: Kenya’s Cash Transfer Programme for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (n=1408). Control: non-cash transfer households from the same sub-location, and non-cash transfer households from a different sub-location control (n=598) |
Unconditional | Depressive symptoms: CES-D-10 | 4 | $10 per month |
| Kilburn et al51 | South Africa | Cluster RCT | 15.5 | Young women between 13 and 20 years old enrolled in high school in low-income study location (n=2537) | Intervention: HIV Prevention Trials Network 068 which provided transfers to young women and their parents (n=1272) Control: no transfer (n=1261) |
Conditional: 80% school days attendance | Depressive symptoms: CES-D-20 Power in relationships: 12-item sexual relationship power scale Hopefulness: 13-item Hope scale |
1–3 | $20 per month |
| Macours et al50 | Nicaragua | Cluster RCT | 3–7 | Children in low-income households between 0 and 83 months (n=4245) | Intervention: Atención a Crisis cash transfer with three arms: cash transfer, cash transfer with vocational training and business skills training, and cash transfer with lump-sum payment toward business development (n=3002 households) Control: no transfer or training (n=1019 households) |
Conditional on regular health check-ups for children ages 0–5 | Behavioural Problems Index Social-personal subscale of the Denver Developmental Screening Test |
0.8 | 15% of per capita expenditures |
| Özler et al48 | Liberia | Quasi-experimental | 13.7 | Adolescent girls and caregivers (n=84 villages, with 1216 eligible girls and 1132 caregivers). | Intervention: Girl Empower (GE), which provides a life skills curriculum to girls (n=393). The GE+ variation includes a cash incentive payment to caregivers for girls’ participation in the programme (n=400) Control: no transfer or programme (n=383). |
Unconditional | Self-esteem: 10-item Rosenberg Scale, Depressive symptoms and anxiety: 12-item Short Mood of Feelings Questionnaire PTSS: Children’s Revised Impact of Event Scale |
2 | $2 per month to girls, $1.25 per month to caregivers |
| Ozer et al42 | Mexico | Cluster RCT | 5.2 | Low-income households (n=506 communities) | Intervention: Oportunidades (n=778) Control: no transfer (n=263) |
Conditional; prenatal care, baby care, immunisation, nutrition monitoring and supplementation, and participation in health, hygiene and nutrition education | Behavior Problems Index | 3–5 | $130 (equivalent to appox. 20% increase of household income) every 2 months |
| Paxson and Schady49 | Ecuador | Quasi-experimental | 3.3 | Families with children in the lowest poverty index quintiles with at least one child under the age of 6 and no children ages six or above (n=17 987) | Intervention: Bono de Desarrollo Humano (n=1479) Control: not offered the Bono until several years later (n=384) |
Unconditional | Behavioural problems: Woodcock, Johnson Muñoz, Mccarthy tests Behavioural problems | 2 | $15 per month |
| Shangani et al47 | Kenya | Individual RCT | 14.2 | Low-income households with at least one orphaned and vulnerable child under 17 years (n=665 from 300 households) | Intervention: Kenya’s Cash Transfer Programme for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (n=231). Control: non-cash transfer households from the same sub-location, and non-cash transfer households from a different sub-location Control (n=424) |
Unconditional | Anxiety: 28-item Children’s Manifest Anxiety Scale–Revised Depressive symptoms: 11-item Child Depression Inventory (CDI) PTSS: 28-item PTSD checklist Future outlook: single item question |
3 | $20 per month |
| Tozan et al39 | Uganda | Cluster RCT | 12.0 | Children who identified as an AIDS orphan (lost one or both parents to AIDS); living within a family (broadly defined and not an institution or orphanage); and enrolled in grades 5–6 in a public primary school in the study region. (n=48 primary schools, 1410 children) |
Intervention: Bridges to the Future (n=487) and Bridges to the Future PLUS (n=396). Economic strengthening and asset accumulation with savings matched on 1:1 rate (Bridges) or 2:1 rate (Bridges PLUS). Control: usual care services for school-going AIDS-affected children in the region (n=500) |
Unconditional | Depressive symptoms: 27-item Child Depression Inventory and the 20-item Beck Hopelessness Scale. Self-concept: 20-item Tennessee Self-Concept Scale and the 29-item Youth Self-Efficacy Survey. | 4 | Bridges: 1:1 matched savings Bridges PLUS: 2:1 matched savings |
PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder; PTSS, post-traumatic stress syndrome; RCT, randomised controlled trial.