Low Intensity Intervention to Reduce Depression and Anxiety in Women Exposed to Gender-Based Violence

Conditions

None listed

Brief summary

The rationale of the pilot study is to evaluate the feasibility of conducting a definitive RCT of a low intensity intervention to reduce mental health problems in people in low-resource settings. This study compares the relative efficacy of (a) Problem Management Plus will lead to greater symptom reduction than (b) Enhanced Treatment as Usual.

Sijbrandij M, Bryant RA, Schafer A, Dawson KS, Anjuri D, Ndogoni L, Ulate J, Hamdani SU, van Ommeren M.

2016-05-3137 citations

10.1186/s13033-016-0075-5

Interventions

There are two arms to this trial. Arm 1: Problem Management Plus. Arm 2: Enhanced Treatment as Usual. Therapy is administered once-weekly over 5 weeks on an individual 60 minute basis. Problem Management Plus includes skills in identifying emotional and practical problems that can be managed and strategies to reduce and cope with these problems. Attendance at sessions will be monitored via session attendance records. Adherence to strategies will be monitored by checklists of strategies employed.

There are two arms to this trial. Arm 1: Problem Management Plus. Arm 2: Enhanced Treatment as Usual. Therapy is administered once-weekly over 5 weeks on an individual 60 minute basis. Problem Management Plus includes skills in identifying emotional and practical problems that can be managed and strategies to reduce and cope with these problems. Attendance at sessions will be monitored via session attendance records. Adherence to strategies will be monitored by checklists of strategies employed. The duration of the study for any participant will conclude after immediate post-trial follow-up assessment, resulting in participation duration of 1.5 months. Therapy is provided by local health workers.

Study design

Allocation

Randomised controlled trial

Intervention model

Parallel

Primary purpose

Treatment

Masking

Blinded (masking used) (Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Age

18 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

No

Inclusion criteria

Women exposed to gender-based violence and indicate significant distress as reflected in scores on GHQ > 2 and impaired functioning reflected in scores on WHODAS > 16

Exclusion criteria

(a) Imminent suicidal intent, (b) severe mental disorder, (c) severe cognitive impairment, (d) acute protection risks, (e) exposure to trauma in last month, (f) male gender, (g) acute protection risks

Outcome results