The Impact of Family Financial Support on Parental Stress

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Stress
• Interventions: Behavioral: Referral to Social Services; Behavioral: Financial Coaching

• Registration Number: NCT02723227
• Lead Sponsor: University of California, Los Angeles

Brief Summary

The investigators have partnered with financial coaching organizations to establish what the investigators have termed a "Medical-Financial Partnership (MFP)" that offers financial coaching to improve financial and mental health. The investigators will evaluate the MFP's impact on family economic strain and parental stress.

Detailed Description

Financial coaching is a new tool in the field of community development, but it has already demonstrated significant financial impact in a number of studies, including one randomized trial conducted by the Urban Institute. Financial coaching improves participant financial literacy, budgeting, saving for financial emergencies, and debt level. The investigators' project will help clinicians and the field of community economic development understand health and well-being through a new economic lens and assess the health-related impacts of the emerging field of financial coaching. The investigators have partnered with financial coaching organizations to establish what they have termed a "Medical-Financial Partnership (MFP)" that offers financial coaching to improve financial and mental health. The investigators will evaluate the MFP's impact on parental strain and stress.

Community-based participants will be recruited from South Los Angeles and randomized to receive either monthly financial coaching plus access to referral for social services (intervention) or access to referral for social services alone (control). Inclusion criteria include having dependents under age 18, having some form of income, and having a tax identification number (social security number or Individual Tax Identification Number). Participants will be surveyed quarterly regarding their economic strain using the Family Economic Strain Scale and their individual stress using the Parenting Stress Index.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2016-03
• Study First Submitted: 2016-03-25
• Study First Submitted QC: 2016-03-25
• Study First Posted: 2016-03-30
• Status Verified: 2017-10
• Primary Completion: 2017-10
• Study Completion: 2017-10
• Last Update Submitted: 2017-10-24
• Last Update Posted: 2017-10-26

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 150

Inclusion Criteria

• Participants will include caregivers and parents with one or more dependents, some form of income, and a tax identification number.

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Exclusion Criteria

• Inability to partake in the financial coaching or primary language other than English or Spanish.

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Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Social Services Referral	Referral to Social Services	Enrollment provides for access to referrals to social services.
Financial Coaching & Social Service Referral	Referral to Social Services	Enrollment in one-to-one financial coaching intervention to support savings, income, and credit while reducing debt using available tools in the community development field.
Financial Coaching & Social Service Referral	Financial Coaching	Enrollment in one-to-one financial coaching intervention to support savings, income, and credit while reducing debt using available tools in the community development field.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Family Economic Strain	Up to one year (if possible)	Parents will be asked to assess the degree to which their economic circumstances impact their family functioning using the Family Economic Strain Scale
Parenting Stress	Up to one year (if possible)	Parents will be asked to quantify their parenting stress using the Parenting Stress Index

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

LIFT-LA; 🇺🇸 Los Angeles, California, United States