Abstract
This study uses a randomized controlled trial to study the take-up of mental health services in the context of a "sender" who has private information about an available mental health service, and a "recipient" who may be in need and with whom the sender may share the information. The study is conducted with a sample of Syrian refugees living in Jordan. In this setting there is a large mental health burden, with roughly 50% of the adult population having symptoms aligned with clinical depression (Stillman et al. 2022). Senders are invited to share with their friends mental health awareness information advertising a free counseling helpline. The sender's choice to share is observed by the researcher, as is the recipient's decision of whether to take-up the helpline. I consider first what constrains sharing of information, and second how message recipients are impacted, both in their probability of using the helpline as well as their perceptions about their own fit for the service relative to the reputational costs of using it.
Amendment 8/22/23
This amendment adds a longer-term primary outcome (recipient's desire to be contacted directly by the helpline), and adds a follow-on randomized intervention (when the recipient is directly contacted by the helpline).
Citations
Stillman, Sarah, Rozo, Sandra V, Tamim, Abdulrazzak, Palmer, I Bailey, Smith, Emma and Miguel, Edward, (2022), The Syrian refugee life study: first glance, Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 38, issue 3, p. 625-653.