Construyendo hogares saludables: el efecto del mejoramiento de vivienda en el uso de prácticas que contribuyen a reducir y prevenir la violencia doméstica (Building healthy homes: the effect of housing improvements on the use of strategies to reduce and prevent domestic violence)

Last registered on June 06, 2023

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Construyendo hogares saludables: el efecto del mejoramiento de vivienda en el uso de prácticas que contribuyen a reducir y prevenir la violencia doméstica (Building healthy homes: the effect of housing improvements on the use of strategies to reduce and prevent domestic violence)
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0011504
Initial registration date
May 31, 2023

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
June 06, 2023, 3:56 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
Georg-August-Universität Göttingen

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
Georg-August-Universität Göttingen
PI Affiliation
University of South Carolina
PI Affiliation
Universidad EAFIT
PI Affiliation
Universidad EAFIT

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2023-06-01
End date
2024-04-30
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
About one third of families in Colombia live in insufficient houses with inadequate floors or no access to water in the kitchen (ECV, 2021) creating stress and tensions within the household. Moreover, there is a high prevalence of domestic violence with a high number of cases reported each year and around one in five children being exposed to corporal punishment (Cuartas et al., 2019). While inadequate housing is not the only reason behind domestic violence, housing improvements have been shown to improve overall household mental well-being (Curl et al., 2015; Devoto et al., 2012) and depression (Cattaneo et al., 2009) and to overall reduce stress, potentially, also decreasing domestic violence.

This project aims to measure the impact of the ‘Construyendo Hogares Saludables’ programme implemented by Cementos ARGOS consisting of training and subsidies for homeowners to make improvements of their houses. Conducting a randomized control trial with roughly 1200 households in 78 sections of the cities of Cali, Medellin, and Barranquilla, the study will analyse if better housing conditions will ease tensions and stress within households and, thus, reduce domestic violence. Additionally, the supporting effect of pledging to become a healthy, happy home on conflict resolution and, following, on stress and the prevalence on domestic violence will be evaluated.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Caly Amador, Tatiana et al. 2023. "Construyendo hogares saludables: el efecto del mejoramiento de vivienda en el uso de prácticas que contribuyen a reducir y prevenir la violencia doméstica (Building healthy homes: the effect of housing improvements on the use of strategies to reduce and prevent domestic violence)." AEA RCT Registry. June 06. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.11504-1.0
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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The survey includes two interventions. The first intervention involves a self-performed house improvement, while the second intervention consists of a promise (pledge) to follow family formulated household rules. Participants receiving the home-improvement intervention are considered to be in the treatment group, while those without are in the control group. Half of the treatment group will receive the pledge intervention.

Participants in the treatment group will take part in a baseline survey and, additionally, an assessment of their house will be conducted to determine necessary improvements and a corresponding budget. One household member can receive 40 hours of training on basic construction skills, both theoretical and practical. Afterwards, technical operators will deliver the required materials for the house improvements and will also monitor the improvements. At this point, participants in the control group will only participate in the baseline survey.

The pledge intervention will be given to half of the participants of the treatment group, after the house improvements have been finished. All members of a household will participate in this step. A short video will sensitize them on the norms of living together and their importance. Afterwards, they will discuss and agree on family strength to implement into their daily lives. At the end, all sign the pledge to become a happier and healthier home, which will be framed and handed over to them during a ceremony.

Eight months after the house improvements are finished and the pledge ceremony took place, all participants will complete the endline survey.
Intervention Start Date
2023-06-15
Intervention End Date
2023-08-20

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
1. Life Satisfaction
2. Physical and mental health
3. Coexistence at home
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
1. Life satisfaction: Self-assessment of poverty, social inclusion, subjective well-being
2. Physical and Mental Health: assessment using a reduce form of SF-36
3. Coexistence at home measured by three scales:
a) Parenting style measures using Hull, Draghici and Sargent (2012)
b) Questions about frequency of conflict and perceived stress scale.
c) Adoption of family rules: Self-reported measure on co-existence rules as an index of various dimensions.
d) Non-incentivized measures of generosity, cooperation and inequality aversion

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
1. Female Empowerment
2. Family Aspirations
3. Risk Aversion
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
1. Female empowerment: measured as perceived participation in various decisions at home measured as an index.
2. Family Aspirations: Questions about aspirations on authority, economic independence, support, security and human capital of the family
3. Risk Aversion: Lottery Game, Distribution of income

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The study uses a clustered randomized control trial consisting of two treatment arms and a control group. We do a baseline and an endline survey.

To be eligible, participants must be living in houses with quality deficits that affect both physical and mental health of household members. Additionally, they need to live in a high socio-economic vulnerable neighbourhood, have little income themselves, and be low skilled.

The survey part of the study includes questions on how members of the household interact and respect each other, how often and how they argue, and if open communication is possible. Moreover, participants will be asked about the existence of family rules. To measure (female) empowerment, questions on the possibility to make one’s own decisions are added.

Treatments:

T0: Control group: Low-income families in control clusters with similar socioeconomic characteristics.

T1: House-Improvement: Beneficiaries of house improvement project receive an in-kind subsidy to improve floors, walls, kitchen or toilets. The subsidy includes materials and technical support on the project.

T2: House-Improvement + Pledge: Participants additionally receive information of the importance of family rules for peaceful coexistence at home. Families set individualized rules for the household and engage in a ceremony where they collectively pledge to follow the rules.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Clustered Randomization
Randomization Unit
Section Level
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
78 Sections
Sample size: planned number of observations
1200 Households
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
600 control households in T0, 300 households treated with T1, 300 households treated with T2
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Given 78 clusters with 15 observations each and assuming very low ICC between the different clusters due to geological separation, the study yields a power of 80% at the section level.
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Universidad EAFIT
IRB Approval Date
2023-03-29
IRB Approval Number
230331

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials