Effectiveness of taking in the good based-bibliotherapy intervention program among depressed Filipino female adolescents

Adolescent depression is a severe mental health problem. Philippines has the highest incidence of depression in South East Asia. Depressed female adolescents habitually seek and retain negative experiences. Aim of this research was to develop and to assess effectiveness of a Taking in the Good Based-Bibliotherapy Intervention Program for female adolescents. As an innovative type of psychotherapy treatment, program aimed to build up their inner strengths by experiencing, enriching and absorbing daily events with a positive attitude and installing them in brain. Program was conducted in two phases: 1. Development of taking in the good based-bibliotherapy intervention. 2. Implementation and assessment of pioneering treatment for alleviating depression and thereby increasing positive cognitive appraisal by employing true experimental research design particularly between subjects. Beck Depression Inventory-II, Asian Adolescent Depression Scale and Kutcher Adolescent Depression Scale-11 were administered before and after implementation of the program. A total of 30 female adolescents, Filipino High School students, (mean age = 13.9), were randomly assigned to experimental (n = 15) and control (n = 15) conditions. Data analysis was done by employing percentage and frequency distribution, mean scores, standard deviation, dependent t-test, independent t-test statistics and Cohen's d. The null hypothesis was tested at the 0.05 level of significance. Statistical analysis between the pre-test and post-test scores of the experimental group showed significant difference (p = 0.000) and scores of control and experimental group showed significant difference (p = 0.000) in all dependent variables in the post-test. These results revealed that “Taking in the Good based-Bibliotherapy Intervention” was effective in reducing depression in female adolescents.