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

  • Nathan Barker
  • Gharad Bryan
  • Dean Karlan
  • Angela Ofori-Atta
  • Christopher Udry
American Economic Review: Insights
vol. 4, no. 4, December 2022
(pp. 527-45)
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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.

Citation

Barker, Nathan, Gharad Bryan, Dean Karlan, Angela Ofori-Atta, and Christopher Udry. 2022. "Cognitive Behavioral Therapy among Ghana's Rural Poor Is Effective Regardless of Baseline Mental Distress." American Economic Review: Insights, 4 (4): 527-45. DOI: 10.1257/aeri.20210612

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • D12 Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
  • I12 Health Behavior
  • I15 Health and Economic Development
  • I31 General Welfare; Well-Being
  • I32 Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
  • O12 Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
  • O18 Economic Development: Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure