Mental Health Therapy as a Core Strategy for Increasing Human Capital: Evidence from Ghana /

We study the impact of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for individuals selected from the general population of poor households in rural Ghana. Results from 2-3 months after a randomized intervention show strong impacts on mental and physical health, cognitive and socioemotional skills, and downst...

Ausführliche Beschreibung

Gespeichert in:
1. Verfasser:
Barker, Nathan
Körperschaft:
National Bureau of Economic Research
Weitere Verfasser:
Bryan, Gharad T., Karlan, Dean, Ofori-Atta, Angela, Udry, Christopher R.
Format:
Elektronisch E-Book
Sprache:
Englisch
Veröffentlicht:
Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2021.
Zusammenfassung:
We study the impact of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for individuals selected from the general population of poor households in rural Ghana. Results from 2-3 months after a randomized intervention show strong impacts on mental and physical health, cognitive and socioemotional skills, and downstream economic outcomes. We find no evidence of heterogeneity by baseline mental distress; we argue that this is because CBT can improve human capital for a general population of poor individuals through two pathways. First, CBT reduces vulnerability to deteriorating mental health; and second, CBT directly improves bandwidth, increasing cognitive and socioemotional skills and hence economic outcomes.
Umfang:
1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);
Anmerkungen:
October 2021.
Schlagworte: