Mental Health and Adolescent Schooling: Evidence from a Therapy Field Experiment in Nepal

The last several years have been devastating for adolescent mental health. Can a short-term therapy intervention aimed at adolescents at risk of early school termination help them stay in school and improve their well-being? Priya Mukherjee, Nikhilesh Prakash, Nishith Prakash, Shwetlena Sabharwal, and I evaluate a World Bank project in Nepal provided by the Center for Mental Health & Counseling – Nepal and aimed at supporting at-risk youths with 4-6 therapy sessions drawing on cognitive behavioral therapy, solution focused brief therapy, and systemic therapy. To separate the impact of therapy from the impact of encouraging education (as is inevitable in therapy aimed at adolescents), we cross randomize an educational nudge designed to mimic the types of encouragements towards education that would be part of an individualized therapy session.

Documentation

AEA Analysis Plan

Registry Entry

Initial Analysis Plan, Uploaded September 2022

Baseline Survey

Phone Survey

Endline Survey

In-person Survey

Migrant Phone Survey

Data

in field