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Department of Clinical and general Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran. , borjali@atu.ac.ir
Abstract: (27 Views)
Background: Depression is one of the most prevalent psychological problems among university students, particularly those in the arts. Furthermore, poor emotional expressiveness is considered a contributing factor to the persistence and exacerbation of this disorder. An intervention that utilizes these same tools for therapeutic purposes could be uniquely effective.
Aims: The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a psychodrama intervention on reducing depression and increasing emotional expressiveness among acting students.
Methods: This study was a quasi-experimental research with a pre-test, post-test, and two-month follow-up design, including a control group. The statistical population consisted of acting students at the University of Art (N=500). From this population, 30 students who obtained the highest scores in depression and the lowest scores in emotional expressiveness were selected through purposive sampling and then randomly assigned to an experimental group (n=15) and a control group (n=15). The experimental group received the psychodrama intervention over eight 90-minute weekly sessions. Data were collected using the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II; Beck, Steer, & Brown, 1996) and the Emotional Expressiveness Questionnaire (EEQ; King & Emmons, 1990). The data were analyzed using mixed ANOVA with repeated measures in SPSS version 26.
Results: The results indicated that the psychodrama-based intervention led to a significant reduction in depression scores and a significant increase in emotional expressiveness scores in the experimental group compared to the control group (p<0.05). The Bonferroni post-hoc test results also showed that this therapeutic effect was significant at both the post-test and follow-up stages compared to the pre-test. However, no significant difference was observed between the post-test and follow-up, indicating the stability of the intervention’s effects over time.
Conclusion: The findings suggest the effectiveness of psychodrama in reducing depression and enhancing emotional expressiveness in acting students. Considering the action-oriented mechanisms of this intervention and its alignment with the nature of these students’ profession, it is recommended that psychodrama be utilized as an effective therapeutic approach in university counseling centers and mental health support programs, especially for students in the arts.
Aims: The present study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of a psychodrama intervention on reducing depression and increasing emotional expressiveness among acting students.
Methods: This study was a quasi-experimental research with a pre-test, post-test, and two-month follow-up design, including a control group. The statistical population consisted of acting students at the University of Art (N=500). From this population, 30 students who obtained the highest scores in depression and the lowest scores in emotional expressiveness were selected through purposive sampling and then randomly assigned to an experimental group (n=15) and a control group (n=15). The experimental group received the psychodrama intervention over eight 90-minute weekly sessions. Data were collected using the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II; Beck, Steer, & Brown, 1996) and the Emotional Expressiveness Questionnaire (EEQ; King & Emmons, 1990). The data were analyzed using mixed ANOVA with repeated measures in SPSS version 26.
Results: The results indicated that the psychodrama-based intervention led to a significant reduction in depression scores and a significant increase in emotional expressiveness scores in the experimental group compared to the control group (p<0.05). The Bonferroni post-hoc test results also showed that this therapeutic effect was significant at both the post-test and follow-up stages compared to the pre-test. However, no significant difference was observed between the post-test and follow-up, indicating the stability of the intervention’s effects over time.
Conclusion: The findings suggest the effectiveness of psychodrama in reducing depression and enhancing emotional expressiveness in acting students. Considering the action-oriented mechanisms of this intervention and its alignment with the nature of these students’ profession, it is recommended that psychodrama be utilized as an effective therapeutic approach in university counseling centers and mental health support programs, especially for students in the arts.
Type of Study: Research |
Subject:
Special
Received: 2025/06/2 | Accepted: 2025/07/31 | Published: 2026/04/21
Received: 2025/06/2 | Accepted: 2025/07/31 | Published: 2026/04/21
References
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This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)