اثربخشی آموزش داستان ‌نویسی بر عزت ‌نفس و معنای زندگی نوجوانان

This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of teaching story writing on self-esteem and the meaning of life among adolescents. This quasi-experimental research was conducted with a pre-test/post-test design and a control group. The statistical population consisted of 14-year-old boy students in Kamfirooz District, Fars province, Iran, in 2023. Of these, 30 students selected by convenience sampling were allocated into an experimental and a control group. Then, they were taught how to write stories in eight sessions of 90 minutes. Self-esteem Questionnaire (SEQ) and Meaning of Life Questionnaire (MOLQ) were used to assess the variables in this study at three time points: pre-test, post-test and follow-up test 45 days after the post-test. The results showed that teaching how to write stories increased self-esteem and had a positive impact on the meaning of life (including presence of and seeking meaning) in adolescents.
Introduction
Adolescence is an important developmental stage that is accompanied by physical, mental and emotional changes. Adolescents struggle with the formation of identity, self-esteem, and the meaning of life. Among the most important issues during adolescence are self-esteem, i.e., positive self-evaluation, belief in one's own worth and abilities (Ardani, 2022), and finding meaning in life, i.e., having a coherent goal in life (Hamzeh Gardashi et al., 2019). Educational interventions can have a major contribution to adolescents’ well-being and development (Vijayakumar Bharathi & Pande, 2024). In this regard, story writing is a type of expressive writing that can positively affect emotional well-being, reduce stress, and increase self-esteem (Zahara et al., 2024). Furthermore, the art of story writing reflects and exposes a unique narrative of the meaning of life, creating new insights for both the storyteller and the reader (Carroll, 2023). It can also guide people towards the meaning of their lives (Saligheh, 2018). Given that no research was found in domestic or foreign research sources on the “effectiveness of teaching story writing on self-esteem and the meaning of life among adolescents”, the present study was conducted in search of an answer to the question: "What effect does the art of story writing have on self-esteem and seeking meaning in the lives of adolescents?"
Methodology
The present quasi-experimental study was conducted with a pretest-posttest design and a control group. The statistical population consisted of 14-year-old  boy students in Kamfirooz District, Fars province, Iran, in 2023. Of these, 30 students selected by convenience sampling were allocated into an experimental and a control group. Inclusion criteria were being at least 14 years old, signing informed consent to participate in the study, having normal cognitive and mental abilities. Exclusion criteria were the presence of any physical or psychologic disorder and taking psychiatric medications. Then, the participants were taught how to write stories by an experienced teacher in eight sessions of 90 minutes in the art and culture course between October and December 2023. Self-esteem Questionnaire (SEQ) and Meaning of Life Questionnaire (MOLQ) were used to assess the variables in this study at three time points: pre-test, post-test and follow-up test 45 days after the post-test. The statistical analysis of the data was performed in SPSS software, version 24, using ANCOVA.
Results
As can be seen in Table 1, the scores for both self-esteem and meaning of life variables in the post-test were higher than those in the pre-test. However, no significant difference was observed between the two post-test and follow-up scores for both self-esteem and meaning of life variables. Therefore, it can be concluded that teaching story writing had a stable effect on self-esteem and the meaning of life among adolescents.
Discussion and conclusion
The results showed that teaching story writing increases self-esteem and the meaning of life in adolescent participants. These results align with the research by Hosseini et al. (2022) and Ismaili Dehaghi et al. (2020). It can be argued that teaching the art of story writing creates opportunities for self-expression, self-discovery, skill-building experiences, social communication, cognitive reconstruction and emotion regulation, and hence can strengthen positive beliefs about oneself and improve overall well-being and increase self-esteem. Another finding of this research showed the positive effectiveness of teaching story writing on the score of meaning of life in adolescents, including the presence of meaning in their lives and seeking meaning of life. This finding is consistent with the approaches of logotherapy (Frankel, 1985/2014) and existentialism (Karmi and Vakili, 2023). It can be concluded that writing stories allows adolescents to explore their thoughts, feelings and experiences, and as a result find a deeper understanding of themselves and their place in the world, and identify their values, beliefs and aspirations. They are on the path of seeking meaning in life and finding out the existence of the meaning of life.