Mental Health During Conflict? An RCT on Psychosocial Programming in Conflict-Affected Myanmar

In addition to its obvious direct effects on human welfare, conflict can cause a host of indirect effects— by fueling depression, PTSD, drug abuse, and domestic violence, and by disrupting communities’ social cohesion. This project investigates how to improve mental health, resilience, and social cohesion in conflict-affected communities in rural Myanmar. One promising yet understudied approach is non- specialist, community-based mental health care delivery. We are conducting a randomized evaluation of one such community-based psychosocial program in war-torn villages in Kayin, Myanmar. The flagship Mental Health & Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) program of our implementation partner, Community Partners International, involves a simplified group-based curriculum focused on depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and anxiety. In a second treatment arm, participants are invited to a “social capital” program—involving planting, basket-weaving, cooking, and other group activities—allowing us to examine if any causal effects of the MHPSS intervention are attributable to the curriculum or to the group-based nature of the program. We also cross-randomize a light-touch religious intervention—a non-sectarian prayer and meditation session delivered before each program session—to try to embed program content more closely in the local culture. The project will provide some of the first credible causal evidence on the clinical and cost effectiveness of non-specialist psychosocial first-aid programs in the midst of active conflict.