Strengths programmes may raise self-belief for people with long-term illness
HelpedThe short version
Across two studies, strengths programmes raised self-belief more than usual care did.
- 2
- studies pooled
- Self-rated
- people rated themselves
- 1 tool
- tested
The review
Who took part
The review covered 8 studies with 692 people who had long-term illness. Most were adults with mental illness, depression, breast cancer or brain injury. One study was of 81 teenagers in psychiatric care.
What they did
The two studies pooled for this result compared a strengths programme with usual care. One ran weekly 90-minute group sessions for 10 to 12 weeks. The other was a single session where people traced their top three strengths on cards.
What happened
Compared with usual care, the strengths programmes gave a bigger rise in self-belief, and self-esteem rose more too. The paper's text and chart disagree on how many studies were pooled, and one of the two had no comparison group. So the size of the gain is uncertain.
What the review found
- Helped
Across two studies, strengths programmes raised self-belief more than usual care did.
Pooled analysis of 2 studies · vs people who got usual care · they rated themselves · ⚠ whole programmes were tested, so no single part can be credited; mixes trials with other kinds of study
How solid is this?
- People rated themselves
- Numbers unreliable
- Unclear how groups were picked
- Summary claims more than the results show
- Whole programmes were tested, so no single part can be credited
- Mixes trials with other kinds of study
Source
A systematic review of the effects of character strengths-based intervention on the psychological well-being of patients suffering from chronic illnesses (2020)
DOI: 10.1111/jan.14356 (opens in a new tab)
