Unisanté | Data repository
Unisanté | Unisanté

Created on : 12.10.2026 Last modified : 12.10.2026

Youth Well-Being: Strengthening mental health and human capital in a social programme for vulnerable young people in Colombia

Colombia, 2025 - 2026
DESS

Reference ID

10.16909-dataset-67

DOI

Producer(s)

Mauricio Avendano, Martha Escobar Lux, Fabio Idrobo Bonilla, Armando N. Meier, Omar Y. Vargas Rodriguez

Collections

Department of epidemiology and health systems (DESS)

Metadata

Identification

Survey ID number

10.16909-dataset-67
Title

Youth Well-Being: Strengthening mental health and human capital in a social programme for vulnerable young people in Colombia
Abbreviation or Acronym

YWB
Translated Title

BienEstar Joven
Country
Name Country code
Colombia COL
Series Information

Wave 1: screening and baseline surveys (February-March 2025)
Wave 2: follow-up wave 1 (June-July 2025)
Wave 3: follow-up wave 2 (September-October 2025)
Wave 4: follow-up wave 3 (December 2025 - January 2026)
Abstract

A longitudinal study of mental health and human capital among socioeconomically vulnerable young people enrolled in tertiary education in Colombia. The data provided here come from repeated surveys of low-income higher-education students participating in the national conditional cash-transfer programme (Renta Joven / Jóvenes en Acción). The survey instruments capture validated mental health symptom measures — including depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), post-traumatic stress (PC-PTSD-5), and behavioural activation (BADS-SF) — alongside sociodemographic characteristics, educational trajectories and economic expectations. Nested within this population is a preregistered randomized controlled trial evaluating the impact of a self-guided transdiagnostic digital mental health platform (delivered alone or with peer support) on mental health, educational attainment and human-capital outcomes among low-income students.
Kind of Data

Sample survey data [ssd]
Unit of Analysis
  • Individual-level surveys, specifically, low-income students enrolled in tertiary education who participate in the Renta Joven programme.
  • Intervention information (treatment assignement), and related platform logs
  • Administrative records

Version

Version Description

Version 1: Edited, de-identified dataset for public distribution.
Version Date

2026-08-31

Scope

Notes

The surveys cover the mental health, human-capital, and behavioural characteristics of low-income students enrolled in tertiary (technical, technological, and university) education. Instruments were administered across a baseline survey, and repeated follow-up waves, with the core thematic modules repeated longitudinally to track change over time. The scope spans the following themes:

  • Mental health symptoms. Validated symptom scales for depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), and post-traumatic stress (PC-PTSD-5), behavioural activation (BADS-SF), suicide-risk screening.
  • Broader well-being, self-reported health and sleep. Life satisfaction, sleep satisfaction / insomnia and its impact on daily functioning.
  • Mental health attitudes and service use. Self-stigma of seeking help (SSOSH), lifetime mental health diagnosis, recent help-seeking and treatment received, and beliefs about the effectiveness of psychological therapy and digital mental health tools.
  • Health-related quality of life. EQ-5D-5L, healthcare use.
  • Educational enrolment and trajectory. Type of institution and programme, enrolment continuity, and reasons for interrupting or leaving studies.
  • Educational expectations and investment. Expected cumulative GPA and self-reported educational effort (e.g., missed, skipped, or late arrivals to class).
  • Labour-market expectations. Expected future earnings following graduation.
  • Economic preferences and personality traits. Patience and time-discounting choices, self-control (Brief Self-Control Scale), and risk preferences.
  • Sociodemographic and household characteristics. Demographic and household background captured at screening.
    Additionally, related study information are provided through intervention-related information and administrative records including additional educational information of the studied population.
Keywords
Mental health

Coverage

Geographic Coverage

National coverage
Universe

Low-income students enrolled in tertiary (technical, technological, and university) education receiving a conditional cash transfer in the social program Renta Joven

Producers and sponsors

Primary investigators
Name Affiliation
Mauricio Avendano Unisanté, Center for Primary Care and Public Health & University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
Martha Escobar Lux Foundation Santa Fe de Bogota
Fabio Idrobo Bonilla Foundation Santa Fe de Bogota
Armando N. Meier University of Basel
Omar Y. Vargas Rodriguez Government of Colombia Department of Social Protection, Colombia
Producers
Name Affiliation Role
Nathalie Monnet Unisanté, Center for Primary Care and Public Health & University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland researcher, statistician, data manager
Clémence Kieny Unisanté, Center for Primary Care and Public Health & University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland researcher
Andrea Carolina Bell Tocancipa Foundation Sante Fe de Bogota coordinator
Funding Agency/Sponsor
Name Abbreviation
Swiss National Science Foundation SNSF
Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC
Other Identifications/Acknowledgments
Name Affiliation Role
Ricardo Araya King's College London Center for Global Mental Health Institure for Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuro, United Kingdom Partner
Naomi Koerner Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada Partner

Sampling

Sampling Procedure

  • Sample frame and recruitment. The study population consists of low-income young people who are beneficiaries of Colombia's Renta Joven conditional cash-transfer programme and enrolled in tertiary education (technical, technological, or university programmes). The sample frame was drawn from Renta Joven beneficiaries, who were invited to participate; approximately 360,000 individuals were invited and more than 70,000 responded (partially or in full) to the screening survey. The sample is therefore not a probability sample designed to be representative of the general Colombian population; it represents Renta Joven beneficiaries enrolled in tertiary education who responded to the invitation and met the eligibility criteria.

  • Eligibility and screening. Eligibility was established through a screening survey and required: informed consent, membership in Renta Joven, age 18 and above, current enrolment in a higher-education programme, access to an internet-enabled device, and interest in the study. Of screening respondents, 33,683 were eligible. Eligible individuals were invited to a baseline survey (22,850 responses; 18,999 eligible). Before randomisation, participants were further excluded if they did not complete the baseline survey or completed it too quickly (fewer than four minutes), if they were asymptomatic (based on a minimum symptom threshold), or if they were flagged as high suicide risk.

  • Randomisation, stratification, and arms. A total of 14,688 eligible participants were randomised in equal shares (7,344 per arm) to the treatment and control conditions.

  • Level of representation and design notes. Estimates are representative of the eligible, consenting study population defined above and are not weighted to the national population; no sampling weights are applied. In waves 2 to 4, because inclusion required baseline symptomatology above a screening threshold, asymptomatic individuals are excluded by design, and the sample over-represents individuals with elevated mental health symptoms relative to the full beneficiary population.

  • Non-response, attrition, and replacement. Three follow-up surveys were administered (wave 2=follow-up 1 at 0 months, n = 9,719 complete; wave 3=follow-up 2 at 3 months, n = 6,472 complete; wave 3=follow-up 3 at 6 months, n= 7,185).
Response Rate
  • Non-response, attrition, and replacement. Three follow-up surveys were administered (wave 2=follow-up 1 at 0 months, n = 9,719 complete; wave 3=follow-up 2 at 3 months, n = 6,472 complete; wave 3=follow-up 3 at 6 months, n= 7,185).

Survey instrument

Questionnaires

Questionnaires were conducted in Spanish in REDCap. These include:

  • Screening and baseline questionnaires (February–March 2025): pre-intervention, including eligibility criteria, demographics, and baseline mental health and educational measures
  • Follow-up questionnaire 1 (June–July 2025): follow-up mental health and educational measures immediately post-intervention
  • Follow-up questionnaire 2 (September–October 2025): follow-up mental health and educational measures 3-month post-intervention
  • Follow-up questionnaire 3 (December 2025 – January 2026): follow-up mental health and educational measures 6-month post-intervention, plus cost-utility-related questions (EQ-5D-5L and healthcare use)

Data collection

Dates of Data Collection
Start End Cycle
2025/02/04 2025/03/09 Wave 1
2025/03/26 2025/06/12 Intervention
2025/06/12 2025/07/28 Wave 2
2025/09/02 2025/10/19 Wave 3
2025/12/02 2026/01/30 Wave 4
Mode of data collection
  • Internet [int]
Data Collection Notes

A pilot study took place in Fall 2024.

Data processing

Data Editing

After screening/baseline completion, duplicated records were removed based on identifying information including the ID card number (cédula in Spanish). All participants were also cross-checked with Renta Joven administrative database to comply with eligibility criteria.

Access policy

Location of Data Collection

Unisanté Data repository : https://doi.org/10.16909/dataset/67
URL for Location of Data Collection

https://doi.org/10.16909/dataset/63

Data Access

Access authority
Name Affiliation URL Email
Mauricio Avendano Unisanté, Center for Primary Care and Public Health & University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland Mauricio.Avendano-Pabon@unisante.ch Avendano Pabon MauricioMauricio.Avendano-Pabon@unisante.ch
Nathalie Monnet Unisanté, Center for Primary Care and Public Health & University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland nathalie.monnet@unisante.ch nathalie.monnet@unisante.ch
Confidentiality
Is signing of a confidentiality declaration required? Confidentiality declaration text
yes All requests for data use will be reviewed before approval.
Access conditions

This dataset is submitted to the Federal Act on Research involving Human Beings (HRA). Therefore, an ethical approval will be required to use this dataset.
The Data transfer agreement must be signed before releasing the dataset
Citation requirements

Avendano, Mauricio; Monnet, Nathalie; Meier, Armando N.; Escobar Lux, Martha; Ibrobo Bonilla, Fabio; Vargas Rodriguez, Omar Yesid. The Youth Well-Being (BienEstar Joven) Study: Datasets. Center for Primary Care and Public Health (Unisanté), University of Lausanne, Switzerland. Version 1.0 of the licensed dataset (2026), provided by the Unisanté Research Data Repository. DOI: https://doi.org/10.16909/dataset/67.
Availability Status

The dataset is available on request for research purpose only.
To get access to data, the following procedure must be followed:
· Create an account (Login → Register)
· Go to the Data Catalog and click on the study of interest (https://doi.org/10.16909/dataset/67)
· Once on the study page, click on the tab "Data Access"
· Fill in the application form and submit
· The request will then be reviewed by Unisanté. If accepted, a Data transfer agreement will be created
· Sign the Data transfert agreement

Important: Before submitting a request, please check whether the data is at all useful for your project. The codebooks with the corresponding information are filed under Documentation and do not require registration.

Disclaimer and copyrights

Disclaimer

The user of the data acknowledges that the original collector of the data, the authorized distributor of the data, and the relevant funding agency bear no responsibility for use of the data or for interpretations or inferences based upon such uses.
Copyright

(c) 2026, Unisanté, University Center for Primary Care and Public Health, Lausanne, Switzerland

Contacts

Contacts
Name Affiliation Email URL
Youth Well-Being secretariat ywb@unisante.ch
Documentation and data unit (UDD) Unisanté, University Center for Primary Care and Public Health, Lausanne, Switzerland udd.data@unisante.ch https://www.unisante.ch/fr/formation-recherche/bibliotheque
Study description in PDF

Back to Catalog