The Impact of Pre-marital Counseling on Economic and Psychosocial Wellbeing of Women: A Field Experiment in Indonesia

Last registered on May 03, 2023
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
The Impact of Pre-marital Counseling on Economic and Psychosocial Wellbeing of Women: A Field Experiment in Indonesia
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0011256
Initial registration date
May 01, 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
May 03, 2023, 4:34 PM EDT

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

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Reshmaan Hussam
Affiliation
Harvard Business School
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Madeline McKelway
PI Affiliation
Dartmouth College
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PI Name
Nurina Merdikawati
PI Affiliation
J-PAL Southeast Asia
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2023-07-01
End date
2024-05-31
Keywords
Gender
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
In this pilot study, we aim to evaluate the premarital counselling program (Bimwin) conducted by sub-district religious offices (KUA) in Indonesia. Pre-marital counselling may be a powerful means of shaping, aligning, and setting expectations around the needs and desires of women in a marriage, with implications for sexual and reproductive health, fertility, intra-household bargaining power, female labor force participation, and couples’ general wellbeing. We will randomize an invitation to the two-day, face-to-face premarital counselling program. Under this scenario, the couples in the control group either receive a shortened in-person or virtual Bimwin , or no Bimwin program at all. One key outcome of this pilot study will be take-up, or the conversion rate from opportunity to attendance. We will also evaluate short-term impacts on economic, health, and psychosocial outcomes of the couples.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Hussam, Reshmaan, Madeline McKelway and Nurina Merdikawati. 2023. "The Impact of Pre-marital Counseling on Economic and Psychosocial Wellbeing of Women: A Field Experiment in Indonesia." AEA RCT Registry. May 03. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.11256-1.0
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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2023-08-01
Intervention End Date
2023-09-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Counselling take-up rate, knowledge of facts conveyed in the counselling (around finances and reproduction), quality of relationship, spousal communication, household decision-making, contraceptive use, labor market outcomes, aspirations, and gender attitudes.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
As part of the pilot, we will work with six KUAs in the city of Semarang to obtain the list of soon-to-be married couples. From this pool, we will randomly select 15 couples in each KUA to be invited to a two-day, face-to-face Bimwin session (treatment group) and 15 couples in each KUA with no invitation (control group). In total, we will have 90 couples in the treatment group and 90 in the control.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization will be done in stata by a computer
Randomization Unit
Couple
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
N/A
Sample size: planned number of observations
180 wives and 180 husbands
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
90 treated couples and 90 control couples
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Komite Etik Penelitian LPEM FEB UI
IRB Approval Date
2023-03-31
IRB Approval Number
013/UN2.F6.D2.LPM/PPM.KEP/2023
Analysis Plan