Mental Disorders Commons^™

Small Individual Loans And Mental Health: A Randomized Controlled Trial Among South African Adults, Lia C. H. Fernald, Rita Hamad, Dean Karlan, Emily J. Ozer, Jonathan Zinman

Dartmouth Scholarship

Background: In the developing world, access to small, individual loans has been variously hailed as a poverty-alleviation tool – in the context of "microcredit" – but has also been criticized as "usury" and harmful to vulnerable borrowers. Prior studies have assessed effects of access to credit on traditional economic outcomes for poor borrowers, but effects on mental health have been largely ignored.

Methods: Applicants who had previously been rejected (n = 257) for a loan (200% annual percentage rate – APR) from a lender in South Africa were randomly assigned to a "second-look" that encouraged loan officers to approve their …

Popular Self-Help Books For Anxiety, Depression, And Trauma: How Scientifically Grounded And Useful Are They?, Richard Redding, Evan Forman, Brandon Gaudiano, James Herbert

Richard E. Redding

Self-help books for psychological disorders have become increasingly popular, yet there is surprisingly little research on their scientific status or overall utility. The authors identified 50 top-selling self-help books for anxiety, depressive, and trauma-related disorders. Using a scale derived from the literature on bibliotherapy, expert psychologists rated each book on overall usefulness, grounding in psychological science, the extent to which it offers reasonable expectations, the extent to which it offers specific guidance for implementing the self-help techniques and for monitoring treatment progress, and whether it offers potentially harmful advice. The results revealed strong intercorrelations among the scales, such that books …

Exploring The Mental Health Of Black Men Who Have Sex With Men, Louis F. Graham, Kisha Braithwaite, Pilgram Spikes, Charles F. Stephens, Ugo F. Edu

Louis F Graham

Current research indicates that black men who have sex with men (MSM) are disproportionately burdened by depressive distress and anxiety disorders as compared to their white gay and heterosexual counterparts. This study utilizes focus groups to qualitatively explore issues surrounding the mental health status of this population in an attempt to shed light on potential influencing and determinant factors. Twenty-two self-identified black, or multiracial including black, MSM residing in Atlanta, Georgia participated in two focus groups—11 subjects each, respectively. Categories that emerged from data analysis include: knowledge/experiences, attitudes/beliefs, societal action/behavior, identity development, relationship functionality, and mental health status. Overarching themes …