CHE Seminar Series: Depression, Bargaining Power and Intimate Partner Violence - Long-term evidence from a psychotherapy trial
We study the long-term effects of treating prenatal depression on intimate partner violence (IPV) by leveraging a randomised controlled trial of cognitive behavioural therapy with eight years of follow-up data. We find that women assigned to treatment experience sustained reductions in depression but, on average, report higher levels of psychological and physical IPV. These average effects mask sharp heterogeneity by women’s baseline bargaining power, proxied by the spousal schooling gap. Among women with more schooling than their husbands, treatment reduces depression, lowers physical and sexual IPV, and increases the likelihood that women achieve their fertility goals. By contrast, women with equal or less schooling than their husbands see no mental health gains and experience increased IPV. We find evidence that these divergent effects reflect differences in household receptiveness to women’s attempts to exercise greater agency and adopt more progressive gender norms. Thus, treating depression can shift women’s norms and aspirations, but whether these translate into empowerment or backlash depends on their initial bargaining position, which determines their leverage to act on such shifts.
Speaker profile
Michelle Escobar Carías is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Economics at the University of Melbourne. She studies how poor mental health and sleep shape economic behaviour, household dynamics, and human capital; how psychotherapy can ease these constraints; and how environmental stressors undermine wellbeing through psychological and behavioural mechanisms. She has published in leading journals such as The Economic Journal and Social Science & Medicine and currently leads randomised controlled trials in Kenya on sleep and productivity, and in Guatemala on teacher mental health and classroom outcomes.
Weekly seminar series
As part of the Centre for Health Economics' vibrant research culture, we host a weekly seminar series. Visiting and invited researchers present current research relating to the economics of health and wellbeing, and the healthcare sector. Visitors are welcome to join these sessions where discussion and debate is encouraged.
For further information on our seminar series, please contact Trong-Anh.Trinh@monash.edu.
Event Details
- Date:
- 8 October 2025 at 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
- Venue:
- Caulfield campus, Building H, level 9, room H9.14
- Categories:
- CHE Seminar; General
Description
We study the long-term effects of treating prenatal depression on intimate partner violence (IPV) by leveraging a randomised controlled trial of cognitive behavioural therapy with eight years of follow-up data. We find that women assigned to treatment experience sustained reductions in depression but, on average, report higher levels of psychological and physical IPV. These average effects mask sharp heterogeneity by women’s baseline bargaining power, proxied by the spousal schooling gap. Among women with more schooling than their husbands, treatment reduces depression, lowers physical and sexual IPV, and increases the likelihood that women achieve their fertility goals. By contrast, women with equal or less schooling than their husbands see no mental health gains and experience increased IPV. We find evidence that these divergent effects reflect differences in household receptiveness to women’s attempts to exercise greater agency and adopt more progressive gender norms. Thus, treating depression can shift women’s norms and aspirations, but whether these translate into empowerment or backlash depends on their initial bargaining position, which determines their leverage to act on such shifts.
Speaker profile
Michelle Escobar Carías is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Economics at the University of Melbourne. She studies how poor mental health and sleep shape economic behaviour, household dynamics, and human capital; how psychotherapy can ease these constraints; and how environmental stressors undermine wellbeing through psychological and behavioural mechanisms. She has published in leading journals such as The Economic Journal and Social Science & Medicine and currently leads randomised controlled trials in Kenya on sleep and productivity, and in Guatemala on teacher mental health and classroom outcomes.
Weekly seminar series
As part of the Centre for Health Economics' vibrant research culture, we host a weekly seminar series. Visiting and invited researchers present current research relating to the economics of health and wellbeing, and the healthcare sector. Visitors are welcome to join these sessions where discussion and debate is encouraged.
For further information on our seminar series, please contact Trong-Anh.Trinh@monash.edu.