Poverty-reduction interventions combined with psychological interventions: A systematic literature review

TL;DR

This paper reviews studies on combining poverty-reduction and mental health interventions, finding that such combined approaches can improve both mental health and socioeconomic outcomes.

Contribution

The study systematically synthesizes evidence on combined poverty and mental health interventions, revealing their effectiveness and limitations.

Findings

Combined interventions improved mental health and socioeconomic outcomes compared to inactive controls.

Psychosocial interventions by non-specialists and cash transfers were common components.

Adding psychological components showed mixed benefits compared to poverty-reduction interventions alone.

Abstract

Research increasingly indicates that poverty and mental health are causally and bidirectionally related, creating a vicious cycle of disadvantage. We conducted a systematic review with a quantitative summary of effect sizes synthesizing evidence of interventions combining mental health and poverty-reduction components. Seventeen studies were included, spanning diverse populations and contexts. The extracted outcomes were analyzed by outcome type, follow-up duration and comparator in the narrative analysis and forest plots displayed effect estimates by outcome. The most common psychological components were psychosocial interventions delivered by non-specialists, while poverty-reduction components most often involved cash or asset transfers. Combined interventions compared to inactive controls were more consistently associated with improvements in mental health problems, psychological wellbeing and socioeconomic outcomes. Combined approaches demonstrated relatively consistent benefits when compared to psychological-only interventions but showed more mixed results when compared to poverty-reduction components alone, suggesting that the marginal benefit of adding psychological components may be limited and require attention to contextual and implementation factors. Findings highlight the potential of integrated strategies to address both social and psychological determinants of mental health.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1038/s41598-025-24736-8.

Figures