Intervention effects of self-confidence training on depressive mood and automatic thoughts of college students

Abstract

Objective To explore the effects of self-confidence training on depression and automatic thoughts of college students with depressive mood. Methods 70 students were recruited for this study and were randomly divided into experimental group and control group.The experimental group received self-confidence training twice weekly, with 2 hours in individual cycles for 4 weeks(8 cycles) and the control group did not received any training.The Self-Rating Depression Scale(SDS) and Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire(ATQ) were assessed one week before the training and after the training for one week and three months. Results Before the training for one week, after the training for one week and three months, the SDS scores of the experimental group were(60.68±5.78), (45.15±8.51), (46.20±9.44), and the scores of the control group were(61.39±5.70), (59.42±10.20), (58.45±11.20). ATQ scores of the experimental group were(90.76±23.14), (60.00±19.89), (58.03±22.48)and the scores of control group were(83.51±21.88), (77.34±22.64), (78.14±24.52). There were statistically significant differences in SDS scores and ATQ scores between the two groups(F=31.306, P<0.01; F=5.322, P<0.05) before and after the training.There were also statistically significant differences of the scores over time between the two groups (F=36.211, P<0.01; F=29.218, P<0.01), and the groups had an interaction effect with the time(F=19.061, P<0.01; F=14.113, P<0.01). Further testing show that after the training for one week and three months SDS's deduction(t=6.464, P<0.001; t=4.385, P<0.01) and ATQ's deduction(t=4.535, P<0.01; t=4.314, P<0.01) in experimental group were statistically significant higher than those in control group. Conclusion Self-confidence training can reduce depression and automatic thoughts. Key words: Self-confidence training; Depression; Automatic thoughts; College students