Improving mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: A tele-counselling intervention on university students and teachers of Bangladesh

Last registered on June 09, 2021
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Improving mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: A tele-counselling intervention on university students and teachers of Bangladesh
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0007779
Initial registration date
June 09, 2021

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
June 09, 2021, 1:01 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country
Bangladesh
Region
Dhaka

Primary Investigator

Name
Kanti Nuzhat
Affiliation
North South University
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Sakib Mahmud
PI Affiliation
School of Business and Economics (SBE), University of Wisconsin-Superior
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2021-06-09
End date
2022-07-31
Keywords
Behavior, Education, Gender, Health
Additional Keywords
Mental health, COVID-19, tele-counseling, randomized experiment, education, productivity, urban Bangladesh.
JEL code(s)
I3, I10, I15, I12, I31, O12
Secondary IDs
not applicable
Abstract
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the educational sector worldwide. One of the consequences is also psychological distress among teachers and students at the university levels of Bangladesh along with many other socio and economic impacts of the pandemic. In this regard, we plan to conduct a randomized tele-counseling intervention aimed to lower the mental health impact of COVID-19 on both teachers and students in Bangladesh. We expect to find that by providing mental support to participating individuals will improve their mental health condition compared to the ones in the control group. We also hope to find affects on other secondary outcomes such as, their learning outcomes, well-being and productivity due to the tele-counselling intervention.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Mahmud, Sakib and Kanti Nuzhat. 2021. "Improving mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: A tele-counselling intervention on university students and teachers of Bangladesh ." AEA RCT Registry. June 09. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.7779-1.0
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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
A tele-counseling intervention will be conducted by North South University on its teachers and students. There is a separate counselling cell at the university that monitors mental health conditions of both teachers and students. We will be conducting our research with their help.
Intervention Start Date
2021-07-15
Intervention End Date
2021-12-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
improvement in mental health on teachers and students due to online/ virtual teaching and education.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
not applicable

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
well being, productivity, learning, behavioral improvement
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
We expect individuals to feel better after the intervention, be able to cope with the virtual educational outcomes and consequences. We also expect to have an improvement on the productivity of teachers and students after the tele-counselling intervention is completed in 6 months.

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We are submitting a proposal to North South University for funds and to conduct a A tele-counseling intervention on its teachers and students with an aim to mitigate the mental health condition. Four 15 minutes short tele-counseling sessions will be conducted over a period of 6 months on teachers and students by certified counselors of the university. We except to collect data on both treatment and control groups on various demographic, health, socio-economic outcomes and expect to compare analysis on treatment to the control group after the intervention is completed. North South University will be the first university of the country to conduct such a tele-counseling intervention on its staff and students, with an aim to improve their mental health , productivity and the outcomes of virtual learning.
Experimental Design Details
We are submitting a proposal to North South University for funds and to conduct a A tele-counseling intervention on its teachers and students with an aim to mitigate the mental health condition. Four 15 minutes short tele-counseling sessions will be conducted over a period of 6 months on teachers and students by certified counselors of the university. We except to collect data on both treatment and control groups on various demographic, health, socio-economic outcomes and expect to compare analysis on treatment to the control group after the intervention is completed. North South University will be the first university of the country to conduct such a tele-counseling intervention on its staff and students, with an aim to improve their mental health , productivity and the outcomes of virtual learning.
Randomization Method
randomization done in office by manually, who ever agree to sit for the 4 tele-counselling sessions.
Randomization Unit
individual randomization at the university level on its teachers and students.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
1 university
Sample size: planned number of observations
500
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
500 and more individuals, 1 university, 1 treatment and control group
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
200
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials