Abstract

Adolescent depression is an area of growing concern worldwide. Depression is a prevalent and severe mental health problem in adolescents. It frequently leads to suicide, school dropout, antisocial behavior, drug abuse, cognitive vulnerability, and severe disability, leading to poor psychological well-being. Self-determination-focused Acceptance Bibliotherapy (SAB) has been shown to reduce the symptoms of depression and improve adolescents’ psychological well-being in previous studies. This study recommends that telemedicine adopt the SAB in addressing the symptoms of depression. The SAB was developed and tested efficacious using a sequential exploratory research model and randomized controlled experiment. BDI-II and Ryff’s Scale of Psychological Well-being (RSPW) was used to measure the severity of depression and psychological well-being of the experimental and control groups. Statistical analysis using MANOVA on the experimental group’s post-test mean scores on depression and PWB revealed a significant difference, suggesting that the SAB is effective in reducing depression and improving psychological well-being in selected adolescents.

Keywords: Adolescents; Depression; Psychological Well-Being; Self-Determination Focused Acceptance Bibliotherapy (SAB); Telemedicines

Abbreviations: SAB: Self-determination-focused Acceptance Bibliotherapy; RSPW: Ryff’s Scale of Psychological Well-being; WHO: World Health Organization; ACT: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy; USAID: US Agency for International Development; DIF: Demographic Information Form