Effectiveness of Identity-based Psychodrama Educational-therapeutic Program on Identity Styles and Neuroticism

Background: Neuroticism is one of the serious mental health problems of people. No study has been conducted on the impact of identity issues in the treatment of neurotic people. Objectives: This study aims to formulate, design, and investigate the effect of identity-based psychodrama educational program on identity styles and neuroticism. Materials & Methods: This research was a quasi-experimental study with a pre-test, post-test design using a control group. The study participants were 40 people aged 15-30 years referred to Pendare Nik Counseling Center in Najafabad City, Isfahan Province, Iran, in 2020. They were selected using a convenience sampling method and randomly assigned into the intervention (n=20) and control (n=20) groups. The data collection instruments were Berzonsky Identity Style Inventory (1992) and McCrae and Costa 5-factor inventory (1992). A Researcher-made Identity-Based Psychodrama Program (2020) was used for the intervention. The collected data were analyzed using ANCOVA in SPSS v. 23. Results: The educational-therapeutic program significantly affected identity styles and neuroticism (P<0.001). It significantly reduced the neuroticism level of people in the intervention group (F=200.71, η2=0.84). Conclusion: The identity-based psychodrama program reduced diffuse-avoidant, normative, and informational identity styles and neuroticism and promoted the achieved identity style.