Please select the eligibility criteria that correspond to the clinical trial below.
Title: Study of Intervention Effectiveness in Improving Psychosocial and Economic Well-being of Sexual Violence Survivors in DRC
Brief Summary: The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has become synonymous with sexual violence by armed groups within the last 2 decades. Reportedly, tens of thousands of women and girls have been raped, sexually assaulted, attacked and abducted in the Eastern Provinces including North and South Kivu, targeted by armed groups with unparalleled levels of brutality.

Access to services in North and South Kivu-both emergency and longer term care-remains a major challenge. Limited services as well as the potential stigma of seeking services mean that many survivors have never received adequate care. Results of a preliminary study found many survivors have substantially reduced ability to function, including reduced ability to perform basic tasks and activities related to earning, self care, caring for family, and contributing to their communities. These survivors also describe high rates of mental health and social problems including mood disorders, anxiety, withdrawal, and stigmatization and rejection by family and community.

While social and economic development in conflict affected areas like DRC relies on populations who are ready and able to work, the psychological effects of conflict may mean that a percentage of the population living in these low-resource areas are less able to engage in economic opportunities even when they are available. However, there is little data on the best strategy to deal with this.

This study will be run as two parallel randomized impact evaluations to investigate the impacts of two different intervention programs to be implemented as part of standard programming of the collaborating NGO. The first study will focus on the impact of IRC's social-economic intervention, Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLA) compared to a wait-control sample. The VSLA impact evaluation study will be conducted in communities served by 9 community-based organization (CBO) partners. The second study will focus on the impact of a mental health intervention, Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) compared to a wait-control sample. The CPT impact evaluation study will be conducted in communities serviced by NGO partners currently providing psychosocial support. As an exploratory investigation, the researchers will follow the CPT program with the VSLA program to look at the effect of receiving a mental health intervention prior to the VSLA on rates of retention and impact.


Options:
A: Inclusion Criteria:

* survivor of sexual violence
* mental health symptom severity cut-off
* functional impairment cut-off

Exclusion Criteria:

* active suicidality
* not living in the study site
B: Inclusion criteria:

Pregnant women will be eligible for Phase 2 if they are:

1. \< 28 weeks gestation (to provide the opportunity to complete 6 modules and follow-up questionnaires prior to delivery)
2. able to speak/read English; and (3) willing to complete email questionnaires

Exclusion Criteria:

1. \>28 weeks gestation
2. unable to speak/read English
3. unable to complete email questionnaires
C: Inclusion Criteria:

1. married female aged 18-40 years
2. fluency in Hindi or Marathi
3. residence with husband in the area of study for a period of 2 months or greater
4. reports that husband engaged in either heavy drinking- past 30 day drunken behavior, or frequent drinking- 3 drinking days in past 7 days, or lifetime spousal violence perpetration
5. no plans to relocate from the area in the next year.

Exclusion Criteria:

* cognitive impairment indicated at recruitment
D: Inclusion Criteria:

* being victims of Intimate Partner Violence and seeking help at target clinics in order to reduce their psychological symptoms, currently living together with their partner/husband, meeting the set cut-off point on the PTSD scale according to DSM-IV.

Exclusion Criteria:

* schizophrenia, epilepsy, mental retardation, drug abuse and mal-nourishment

Answer: A