Baby's First Years

Running, not enrolling · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Child Development, Brain Development, Household and Family Processes

In brief

Recent advances in developmental neuroscience suggest that experiences early in life can have profound and enduring influences on the developing brain. Family economic resources shape the nature of many of these experiences, yet the extent to which they affect children's development is unknown. The project's team of neuroscientists, economists and developmental psychologists is seeking to fill important gaps in scientific knowledge about the role of economic resources in early development by evaluating the first U.S. randomized controlled trial to determine whether unconditional cash gift payments have a causal effect on the cognitive, socio-emotional and brain development of infants and toddlers in low-income U.S. families. Specifically, 1,000 mothers of infants with incomes below the federal poverty line from four diverse U.S. communities were recruited from post-partum wards and are receiving monthly cash gift payments by debit card for the first 76 months of the child's life. Parents in the experimental group and receiving $333 per month ($3,996 per year), whereas parents in the active comparator group are receiving a nominal monthly payment of $20. In order to understand the impacts of the added income on children's cognitive and behavioral development, the investigators are assessing treatment group differences at ages 4 (this lab assessment was postponed from age 3 to age 4 due to Covid-19), 6, and 8 in lab-administered measures of cognitive, language, and self-regulation development and maternal reports of socio-emotional development. A number of other maternal-reported child outcome measures were gathered at ages 1, 2 and 3. Brain circuitry may be sensitive to the effects of early experience even before early behavioral differences can be detected. In order to understand the impacts of added income on children's brain functioning at age 4, 6, and 8, the investigators will assess, during a lab visit, experimental/active comparator group differences in measures of brain activity (electroencephalography \[EEG\]). The targeted age for each data collection wave is around the child's birthday, i.e. at 12 months, 24 months, 36 months, 48 months, 72 months, and 96 months. To understand how family economic behavior, parenting, and parent stress and well-being change in response to income enhancement, the investigators will assess experimental/active comparator differences in family expenditures, food insecurity, housing and neighborhood quality, family routines and time use, parent stress, mental health and cognition, parenting practices, and child care and preschool arrangements. School readiness and outcomes are being assessed at ages 6 and 8. This study will thus provide the first definitive understanding of the extent to which income plays a causal role in determining early child cognitive, socio-emotional and brain development among low-income families.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT03593356

Run by

University of California, Irvine

People needed

1000

Starts

2018-05-09

Expected to finish

2028-08-31

Last updated by the study team

2026-06-02

Who can join

Age: 18 and older. Sex: female. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• mother 18 years or older;
• household income below the federal poverty threshold in the calendar year prior to the interview, counting the newborn;
• infant admitted to the newborn nursery and not requiring admittance to the intensive care unit;
• residence in the state of recruitment;
• mother not "highly likely" to move to a different state or country in the next 12 months;
• infant to be discharged in the custody of the mother;
• English or Spanish speaking (necessary for administration of instruments used to measure some of the child outcomes);
• singleton birth

You may not qualify if…

• Mothers will not be eligible unless all of the above eight criteria are met.

Where it is running

• 12 hospitals in the following four metropolitan areas: New York, Omaha, New Orleans, and Twin Cities — New York, New York, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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