Enhancing Self-Esteem: Evaluating the Effects of a Self-Affirmation Intervention Among Indian Adults With Subclinical Depression

Abstract

Objectives: Previous research reports self-affirmation interventions to be efficacious in enhancing many life outcomes of normal individuals, but limited research has assessed its restorative and preserving capacities to enhance and maintain the self-esteem of individuals with subclinical depressive tendencies. Methods: This study employed an experimental research design. Eighty participants (age range = 22–27 years) with subclinical depression were chosen using purposive sampling and were randomly assigned in equal numbers to the experimental and control conditions and their self-esteem was measured at pre-intervention, post-intervention and follow-up intervals. Results: Results showed that the experimental group participants evoked significantly higher mean scores (F(1, 76) = 29.20, p < 0.001, η2 = 0.28) on self-esteem as compared to the control group at post-intervention (Control: Mean (SD) = 17.48 (2.73); Experimental: Mean (SD) = 51.43 (3.29)) and follow-up (Control: Mean (SD) = 18.28 (2.72); Experimental: Mean (SD) = 48.65 (3.74)). There was a significant difference in the mean scores of the self-esteem of the experimental group participants during post-intervention and follow-up (F(2, 152) = 6.50, p = 0.002, η2 = 0.08). These findings were evident in the conditions' (experimental, control) and intervals' (pre-intervention, post-intervention, follow-up) main and interaction effects: F(2, 152) = 6.54, p < 0.002, η2 = 0.08; and F(2, 152) = 3.87, p < 0.023, η2 = 0.05. The size of these effects ranged from very low, low, to medium (η2). Conclusion: The findings revealed the restorative and preserving capacities of this self-affirmation intervention for self-esteem. The positive outcomes of the self-affirmation intervention may have been produced as result of the activation of meaning, positive cognitions and positive relationships. © 2025 British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy.