Improving Women's Mental Health during a Pandemict

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Vlassopoulos, Michael; Siddique, Abu; Rahman, Tabassum; Pakrashi, Debayan; Islam, Asad; Ahmed, Firoz
• 署名单位: University of Southampton; University of London; Royal Holloway University London; University of Melbourne; Indian Statistical Institute; Indian Statistical Institute Kolkata; Indian Institute of Technology System (IIT System); Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) - Kanpur; Monash University; Technical University of Munich; Khulna University
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-APPLIED ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7782
• DOI: 10.1257/app.20210655
• 发表日期: 2024
• 页码: 422-455
• 关键词: cognitive-behavioral therapy; psychological treatments; adult depression; Psychotherapy; metaanalysis; empowerment; disorders; efficacy; income

摘要

This paper evaluates a randomized, over-the-phone counseling intervention aimed at mitigating the mental health impact of COVID - 19 on a sample of 2,402 women across 357 villages in Bangladesh. We find that the provision of two hours of mental support plus information on COVID-19 improves mental health ten months postintervention , leading to reductions of 20 percent in the prevalence of moderate and severe stress and 33 percent in depression. Our results suggest that this type of low-cost intervention ( $14 per person ) can be effective in providing rapid psychological support to vulnerable groups in times of crises. ( JEL I12, I18, I31, J16, O12, O15 )