Efficacy of Religious Affirmations and Positive Group Psychotherapy Among Individuals with Depression a Quasi Experimental Study

Abstract

The present study aims to explore the effect of positive religious affirmations intervention in combination with Positive Group Psychotherapy, among subjects with depression. The study seeks to test its hypothesis that subjects receiving positive religious affirmations as an intervention along with positive psychotherapy will show as an more improvement in their depression level than subjects receiving positive psychotherapy alone. It was also hypothesized that subjects receiving positive religious affirmations in combination with positive group psychotherapy will show less depression as compared with the group receiving positive psychotherapy alone, when compared after receiving intervention. The present study has experimental design. The research was conducted on a sample of 14 depressive subjects. Purposive Sampling was used in this research. Seven individuals were assigned to Group A and a quasi seven to Group B. Group A received 7 therapeutic group sessions consisting of religious affirmations along with positive psychotherapy. Group B received 7 therapeutic group sessions including purely positive psychotherapy interventions. Comparison of depression levels made between pre intervention and post intervention. Siddiqui Shah Depression Scale was was used for the measurement of level of depression. Results of the research were calculated through the use of Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Results of the study indicated that positive religious affirmations in combination with positive group psychotherapy lead to a significant in depression level when compared pre test and post test (p=.001), but post test results indicated insignificant level of difference between depression level of Group A and Group B (P>.05). Significant implication of this research is that it gives a new tool to the existing body of interventions available, by introducing the use of religious affirmations in combination with positive psychotherapy, as both the interventions were previously being used separately.