Cognitive Behavioral Therapy among Ghana's Rural Poor Is Effective Regardless of Baseline Mental Distress

Nathan Barker, Gharad Bryan, Dean Karlan, Angela Ofori-Atta and Christopher Udry

American Economic Review: Insights, 2022, vol. 4, issue 4, 527-45

Abstract: We study the impact of group-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for individuals selected from the general population of poor households in rural Ghana (N = 7,227). Results from one to three months after the program show strong impacts on mental and perceived physical health, cognitive and socioemotional skills, and economic self-perceptions. These effects hold regardless of baseline mental distress. We argue that this is because CBT can improve well-being for a general population of poor individuals through two pathways: reducing vulnerability to deteriorating mental health and directly increasing cognitive capacity and socioemotional skills.

JEL-codes: D12 I12 I15 I31 I32 O12 O18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Working Paper: Cognitive behavioral therapy among Ghana’s rural poor is effective regardless of baseline mental distress (2022)
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DOI: 10.1257/aeri.20210612

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