Work and well-being in protracted displacement: A cluster randomized controlled trial of meaningful work and psychosocial support among Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh

Last registered on October 07, 2026

Pre-Trial

General Information

Title

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0019857

Initial registration date

October 03, 2026

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

October 07, 2026, 10:45 AM EDT

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

Last updated

October 07, 2026, 11:03 AM EDT

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name

Emadul Islam

Affiliation

Sasakawa Peace Foundation

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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Mohammad Zainuddin

PI Affiliation

Contact Investigator

PI Name

Md Hasan Reza

PI Affiliation

Indiana University

Contact Investigator

PI Name

Moogdho Mahzab

PI Affiliation

International Food Policy Research Institute

Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status

In development

Start date

2026-10-05

End date

2027-03-31

Keywords

Crime, Violence, & Conflict, Health, Labor, Post-conflict, Welfare

Additional Keywords

refugees, forced displacement, meaningful work, employment, psychosocial support, mental health, resilience, social cohesion, cash transfers, Rohingya

JEL code(s)

J24, J46, I31, I38, O15

Secondary IDs

Prior work

This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.

Abstract

Protracted displacement can affect refugee well-being not only through material hardship but also through restricted livelihood opportunities, prolonged idleness, reduced sense of purpose, and psychological distress. This study evaluates whether meaningful paid work provides psychosocial benefits beyond equivalent financial support, and whether adding structured psychosocial support to meaningful work generates additional benefits.
The study is a three-arm cluster randomized controlled trial among 900 adult male Rohingya refugees aged 18–35 living in four refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Participants will be recruited from 150 camp blocks, with six participants per block. Blocks will be randomly assigned to one of three groups: (1) an equivalent cash transfer, (2) meaningful paid work, or (3) meaningful paid work combined with psychosocial support. All three groups will receive equivalent total monetary compensation.
The intervention will run for six weeks. Outcomes will be measured at baseline, midline, endline, and follow-up. The primary outcomes are psychological distress, psychosocial well-being, resilience, and latent security risk. The study will also examine social cohesion within refugee communities, self-worth and dignity, sense of purpose, future orientation, household well-being and relations, livelihood capability, and aspirations for voluntary repatriation.
The principal comparisons will estimate whether meaningful paid work produces benefits beyond an equivalent cash transfer and whether psychosocial support provides additional benefits beyond meaningful paid work alone.

External Link(s)

Prior observational research motivating the trial: Islam, E. and Zainuddin, M. (2026), Living Under Restriction: Structural Exclusion, Distress, and Security Perceptions among Rohingya Refugees, RLI Working Paper No. 81, Refugee Law Initiative, University of London.

Registration Citation

Citation

Islam, Emadul et al. 2026. "Work and well-being in protracted displacement: A cluster randomized controlled trial of meaningful work and psychosocial support among Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh." AEA RCT Registry. October 07. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.19857-1.1

Sponsors & Partners

Partner

Name

Peace and Policy Solutions (PPS)

Type

URL

https://pps-global.org/

Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

The study evaluates three interventions of equivalent monetary value among adult male Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh: (1) an unconditional cash transfer; (2) meaningful paid work; and (3) meaningful paid work combined with psychosocial support. Participants assigned to the meaningful-work intervention will undertake a common community-oriented work activity for approximately three hours per day, three days per week, over six weeks. Participants assigned to the combined intervention will undertake the same work and additionally participate in six weekly psychosocial support sessions. Total monetary compensation will be equivalent across all three groups.

Intervention Start Date

2026-10-15

Intervention End Date

2026-11-25

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

1. Psychological distress
2. Psychosocial well-being
3. Resilience
4. Latent security risk

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Psychological distress will be measured using the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6). Psychosocial well-being and resilience will be measured using pre-specified multi-item measures included in the survey instrument. Latent security risk will be measured using a pre-specified multi-item scale capturing perceptions and behavioural orientations associated with security risk without directly eliciting admissions of criminal or violent conduct. Where outcomes are constructed from multiple items, coding, aggregation, directionality, standardization, and treatment of missing items will be pre-specified in the pre-analysis plan before treatment assignment.

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

Social cohesion within Rohingya communities; self-worth and dignity; sense of purpose; future orientation and hope; household well-being and stress; intra-household relations; livelihood capability and perceived employability; and aspirations and perceived conditions for voluntary repatriation.

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary outcomes will be measured using pre-specified survey items or multi-item indices, as appropriate. The study will additionally examine potential mechanisms including self-worth and dignity, purpose, structured use of time, perceived household and social contribution, coping, emotional regulation, problem-solving confidence, perceived meaningfulness and usefulness of work, and perceived staff attention and recognition. Exact item composition, coding, index construction, and outcome families for multiple-testing adjustment will be specified in the pre-analysis plan.

Experimental Design

This study is a three-arm cluster randomized controlled trial involving 900 adult male Rohingya refugees aged 18–35 across four refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Participants are drawn from 150 geographically defined camp blocks, with six participants per block. Blocks will be randomly assigned in equal proportions to: (T1) equivalent unconditional cash transfer; (T2) meaningful paid work; or (T3) meaningful paid work plus psychosocial support.
Randomization will occur at the block level and will be stratified by camp. Baseline data will be collected before randomization. Outcomes will subsequently be measured at midline, endline, and approximately six weeks after completion of the intervention.
The two principal treatment comparisons are T2 versus T1, which estimates the effect of meaningful paid work beyond equivalent monetary support, and T3 versus T2, which estimates the incremental effect of psychosocial support beyond identical meaningful paid work.

Experimental Design Details

Not available

Randomization Method

Computer-generated randomization conducted by a researcher independent of field implementation. Randomization will be stratified by camp, with blocks allocated in equal proportions across the three treatment arms within each camp. The allocation sequence will be generated after completion of baseline data collection and archived for reproducibility.

Randomization Unit

Camp block (cluster)

Was the treatment clustered?

Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

150 camp blocks

Sample size: planned number of observations

900 participants

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

T1 – Equivalent cash transfer: 50 blocks, 300 participants
T2 – Meaningful paid work: 50 blocks, 300 participants
T3 – Meaningful paid work + psychosocial support: 50 blocks, 300 participants

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

Under the planning assumptions of 15% attrition, 80% power, two-sided alpha of 0.025 for the two principal treatment comparisons, and baseline R² of approximately 0.25, the estimated minimum detectable effect for the principal ITT comparisons is approximately 0.25–0.30 standard deviations across an assumed intracluster correlation coefficient (ICC) range of 0.03–0.15. At an ICC of 0.05, the approximate MDE is 0.26 standard deviations. These are planning estimates and may vary across outcomes depending on realized attrition, clustering, and baseline predictive power.

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name

IRB Approval Date

IRB Approval Number

Analysis Plan