Effect of drama training on self-esteem and personality strengths: A feasibility case control study of nidotherapy

Although there are many case reports and qualitative studies on the likely positive effects of drama on mental health there have been few quantitative studies with mentally ill patients.

To assess the effect of drama training in patients receiving nidotherapy with a range of mental and personality disorders on changes in self-esteem and personality strengths over a 1-month period compared with two control groups, one with similar mental disorders and another without, who had similar assessments but no acting involvement.

A total of 19 patients were recruited from a mental health charity with current significant mental illness (active group: n = 6) (b) a control group of patients with current mental illness who were not involved in acting (n = 5), and an additional control group with no current mental illness (n = 8) The patients involved in drama were taking part in nidotherapy, an environmental intervention. Two self-rating scales, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) and Abbreviated Personality Strengths Scale (APSS) recorded changes in self-esteem and personality strengths at base-line and after 1 month in the participants. Random effects modelling was used to analyse the data.

The intervention group showed positive improvement in personality strengths (p = .009) compared to the control group that had no mental illness, and also improved more than the control group with mental illness but not to a significant degree (p = .16). Self-esteem recorded with the Rosenberg scale was lower in those in the acting group at baseline compared with the other two groups (p = .088) but after acting training improved by 29% to be equivalent to the control groups.

Despite the limited numbers in this study, and the consequent inability to make firm conclusions about the efficacy of drama therapy as part of nidotherapy, the findings suggest that larger trials of this approach are feasible and worth exploring. .