Diary writing as a means to increased self-evaluation.

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Addiction Studies

Background:

• Self-evaluation is crucial for recovery in substance dependence.
• Traditional therapeutic methods may not fully capture or enhance patient self-assessment.
• Developing tools to foster self-evaluation is important for addiction treatment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the efficacy of a structured diary task in enhancing self-evaluation among inpatients with drug dependence.
• To investigate the impact of diary completion on locus of control and self-evaluation skills.

Main Methods:

• Seventeen inpatients with drug dependence completed a 5-week structured diary task.
• Self-ratings of self-evaluation skill and the Rotter Locus of Control Scale were used for pre-post assessment.

Main Results:

• Significant increases in self-evaluation and internalization were observed after the 5-week diary intervention.
• The diary procedure provided valuable baseline data and insights into patients' cognitive styles.

Conclusions:

• The structured diary task is a potentially valuable tool for enhancing self-evaluation in substance dependence patients.
• Clinical applications include improved rapport, cognitive style understanding, and therapy progress validation.
• Further research is needed due to potential confounding variables in the study design.