Cognitive behavioral therapy among Ghana’s rural poor is effective regardless of baseline mental distress
Barker, N., Bryan, G.
, Karlan, D., Ofori-Atta, A. L. & Udry, C.
(2022).
Cognitive behavioral therapy among Ghana’s rural poor is effective regardless of baseline mental distress.
American Economic Review: Insights,
4(4), 527 - 545.
https://doi.org/10.1257/aeri.20210612
, Karlan, D., Ofori-Atta, A. L. & Udry, C.
(2022).
Cognitive behavioral therapy among Ghana’s rural poor is effective regardless of baseline mental distress.
American Economic Review: Insights,
4(4), 527 - 545.
https://doi.org/10.1257/aeri.20210612
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.
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Bryan, G., Barker, N., Karlan, D., Ofori-Atta, A. & Udry, C.
(2025).
Data and Code for: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Among Ghana’s Rural Poor Is Effective Regardless of Baseline Mental Distress.
[Dataset]. OpenICPSR.
https://doi.org/10.3886/e164481