Nurse-led cognitive-behavioral group therapy for recovery of self-esteem in patients with mental disorders: A pilot study

Aim: To design a program targeting recovery of self-esteem in patients with mental disorders, and to clarify the changes after the program to determine its effectiveness.

Methods: This study employed a one group pre- and post design, which comprised baseline, post-intervention, and 3 month follow-up phases, and recruited 41 Japanese patients with mental disorders living in the community. The authors administered the nurse-led group cognitive-behavioral therapy program for the recovery of self-esteem, which comprised 12 sessions, to the participants. The follow-up investigations were conducted immediately and 3 months after the program. The present authors used the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), Profile of Mood States (POMS), Subjective Well-Being Inventory (SUBI), and Test to Determine the Characteristics of Ideas as subjective measures and the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) as an objective measure.

Results: After controlling for the factors of medication and use of social services, improvement was observed in all measures of evaluation. The authors identified improvement at post-intervention and follow up. The scores for the RSES, BPRS, confidence in coping, and inadequate mental mastery at post-intervention and follow up were significantly higher than those at baseline, and these beneficial effects were maintained 3 months after the program.

Conclusion: The program may aid in recovering and maintaining self-esteem of patients suffering from mental disorders. However, it is necessary to conduct a randomized controlled clinical trial to confirm these findings.