Psychosocial and Economic Impacts of Narrative Exposure Therapy for Violence Survivors in Eastern DRC
Overview
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Intervention
- Not specified
- Conditions
- Mental Health Disorder
- Sponsor
- World Bank
- Enrollment
- 1053
- Locations
- 2
- Primary Endpoint
- Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Severity
- Status
- Completed
- Last Updated
- 5 years ago
Overview
Brief Summary
The objective of the study is to evaluate the impact of Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET) delivered by local counselors, on the mental health and socio-economic empowerment of survivors of Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) who suffer Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), in North and South Kivu in Eastern DRC. The counselors will be trained and supervised by clinical experts from the NGO Vivo International. The therapy is expected to reduce the symptoms of PTSD, depression, and anxiety in SGBV survivors. The project is expected to directly impact and improve the beneficiaries' mental health outcomes of interest, and to indirectly impact and enhance their economic empowerment in the medium term and social functioning both in the short and medium term. This proposed impact evaluation will answer the following research questions: 1) What is the impact of NET on survivors' psychosocial wellbeing, economic empowerment and social functioning and participation? 2) Does the impact of NET differ depending on individual and household characteristics as well as context-specific factors?
Investigators
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria
- •GBV survivors who are screened for commonly found conditions of mental distress
Exclusion Criteria
- •More severe cases of mental disorders are ineligible. They are referred to the General Referral Hospitals or specialized mental health clinics to receive immediate treatment.
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Severity
Time Frame: Baseline, 3 months follow-up, 12 months follow-up
Change in self-report experience of PTSD symptoms, assessed by using the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ-16). This indicator will be constructed as the average PTSD severity score taking the average of the 16 items in HTQ-16 with a range from 0 to 3, where higher scores indicate worse symptoms.
Depression and Anxiety
Time Frame: Baseline, 3 months follow-up, 12 months follow-up
Change in self-report experience of depression and anxiety symptoms, assessed by using the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 (HSCL-25). This indicator will be the average of 16 items, ranging from 0 to 3 where higher score indicates greater severity of depression or anxiety.
Secondary Outcomes
- Total Earnings(Baseline, 3 months follow-up, 12 months follow-up)
- Labor force participation(Baseline, 3 months follow-up, 12 months follow-up)
- Saving behavior(Baseline, 3 months follow-up, 12 months follow-up)
- Sharing of housework(Baseline, 3 months follow-up, 12 months follow-up)
- Respondent and household asset ownership(Baseline and 12 months follow-up)
- Self-esteem(Baseline, 3 months follow-up, 12 months follow-up)
- Management of problems(Baseline, 3 months follow-up, 12 months follow-up)
- Local functioning impairment index(Baseline, 3 months follow-up, 12 months follow-up)
- Food insecurity(Baseline, 3 months follow-up, 12 months follow-up)
- Total amount of savings(Baseline, 3 months follow-up, 12 months follow-up)
- Decision-making power(Baseline, 3 months follow-up, 12 months follow-up)