Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42711377›Full record

ArticleNature human behaviour2026

Effects of a randomized controlled trial of unconditional cash transfers on epigenetic measures of ageing and cognition in children and mothers.

Laurel Raffington, Yayouk E Willems, Jessica F Sperber, Sepideh Zarandooz, Molly A Costanzo, Daniel A Notterman, Colter Mitchell, Elliot M Tucker-Drob, Greg J Duncan, Nathan A Fox and 7 more

Registry-linked trialAbstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Nature human behaviour, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03593356 (Household Income and Child Development in the First Three Years of Life), which is not on this map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT03593356 naactive not recruitingnot on this map

Household Income and Child Development in the First Three Years of Life (Phase 1) Household Income and Child Development in the First Years of Life (Phase 2)

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversity of California, IrvineRan2018 to 2028Enrolled1,000ConditionsChild Development, Brain Development, Household and Family ProcessesArmsMonthly cash gift payments of $333, Monthly cash gift payments of $20
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

17 authors.

Laurel RaffingtonMax Planck Research Group Biosocial-Biology, Social Disparities, and Development, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany. raffington@mpib-berlin.mpg.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0144-5605
Yayouk E WillemsMax Planck Research Group Biosocial-Biology, Social Disparities, and Development, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5747-0164
Jessica F SperberMax Planck Research Group Biosocial-Biology, Social Disparities, and Development, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany.
Sepideh ZarandoozMax Planck Research Group Biosocial-Biology, Social Disparities, and Development, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0008-9825-4469
Molly A CostanzoInstitute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
Daniel A NottermanDepartment of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8809-8297
Colter MitchellSurvey Research Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9560-1199
Elliot M Tucker-DrobDepartment of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5599-6237
Greg J DuncanSchool of Education, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9869-6311
Nathan A FoxDepartment of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
Lisa A GennetianSanford School of Public Policy, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4639-7547
Katherine A MagnusonInstitute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1140-1200
Sonya V Troller-RenfreeTeachers College, Columbia University, New York City, NY, USA.
Hirokazu YoshikawaGlobal TIES for Children Center, New York University, New York City, NY, USA.
Elisabeth B BinderDepartment Genes and Environments, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7088-6618
K Paige Harden *Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA. harden@utexas.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1557-6737
Kimberly G Noble *Teachers College, Columbia University, New York City, NY, USA. kgn2106@tc.columbia.edu.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Here we present epigenetic findings from a randomized controlled trial studying the impact of unconditional cash gifts of US$333 per month (children n = 313; mothers n = 329) or US$20 per month (children n = 423; mothers n = 448) to US mothers with low income during their child's first four years of life. Salivary DunedinPACE-pace of aging, a DNA-methylation predictor of healthy lifespan, and Epigenetic-g, a DNA-methylation biomarker of cognition, were preregistered as secondary outcomes (clinical trial identifier NCT03593356 ). As hypothesized, high-cash compared with low-cash gifts caused a -0.17 s.d. (95% confidence interval -0.32 to -0.01, P = 0.037) difference in children's DunedinPACE. We found no evidence supporting our hypothesis that higher cash gifts increased children's Epigenetic-g, although it did correlate with children's brain activity. There was no evidence that the cash gift had an impact on these epigenetic indices in mothers. These findings show a detectable impact of monthly unconditional cash received through early childhood on epigenetic indices of 4-year-old children in families with low income. Whether this epigenetic effect persists and how it may relate to behavioural and health outcomes remains unknown.

Identifiers

PMID42711377

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Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.