Objective

Understanding the feasibility and effectiveness of a mobile financial coaching plan to assess the impact of changes on financial behavior on stress.

 

We know…

  • Financial education programs have a positive effect on financial knowledge and behavior.

    (Meta-analysis, Kaiser et al. 2020)

  • Personal finances is a major stressor for Americans.

    (Stress in America, APA)

  • Stress related to the economy and work increased significantly during the pandemic compared to 2019.

    (APA, 2020)

Our Research

Financial instability is a major public health issue due to its detrimental effects on mental health. Ethnic-racial minorities are disproportionately impacted and have limited resources for financial management. In response to this problem, we propose a randomized controlled trial to test the effectiveness of a mobile intervention for financial management and the impact of such intervention on self-reported stress and self-efficacy in a sample of low to moderate income Hispanics who are receiving services with the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation (MAOF).

The specific aims and hypotheses of our project are the following:

1) Test the effectiveness of a mobile-based financial capability intervention (in English and Spanish) in comparison to the standard in-person financial capability program on behavioral changes (i.e., improved spending, saving, borrowing, and planning). Our hypothesis is that participants in the mobile intervention group will demonstrate greater behavioral change than participants in the standard financial capability group.

2) Determine if changes in behaviors that demonstrate improvement in financial capability reduce self-reported stress and increase in self-efficacy. Our second hypothesis is that participants who demonstrate behavioral changes (increased financial capability) as a result of intervention will report greater psychological self-efficacy towards finance management and less stress than participants with no behavioral change.

We will recruit 150 participants in Los Angeles that will be randomized to either an in-person financial capability program or mobile-based intervention group that will provide weekly education and financial exercises via mobile phone.