The aim of the current study was to describe participants' experiences and examine the effects of group therapy on self-esteem and state anger among the adolescent children of immigrants in the US. A quasi-experimental design and qualitative and quantitative methods were used. Group therapy was conducted for 8 weeks. Thirty-three adolescents took part in the study. Quantitative results revealed that group therapy improved self-esteem (t = 2.222. p < .05) but not state anger. However, qualitative results suggested that group therapy helped improve interpersonal relationships and communication skills, the forgiveness of others, and the management of anger. Furthermore, group therapy utilizing positive psychology strategies improved self-esteem, interpersonal relationships, and communication skills.
As defined by Stanley Hall (1904), adolescence is a period of “storm and stress,” and many teenagers have conflicts with parents, participate in risk behaviors, and exhibit mood swings (Arnett, 1999). Adolescents who have experienced parental divorce (Thompson, Lizardi, Keyes, & Hasin, 2008), sexual assault (Smith et al., 2010), over-interference by parents, punishment, or rejection (Xiuqin et al., 2010) tend to have more mental health problems, as manifested by delinquency, addiction, and/or depression. In addition to these risk factors, children of immigrants face acculturative stress (Katsiaficas, Suarez-Orozco, Sirin, & Gupta, 2013), communication problems with parents (Schwartz et al., 2012), and discrimination (Basanez, Unger, Soto, Crano, & Baezconde-Garbanati, 2013).
Self-esteem and anger are predictors of mental health in adolescents (Li et al., 2010 and Nock et al., 2013). Self-esteem is a rating of how highly we value ourselves. High self-esteem is based on the ability to evaluate oneself accurately and accept who we are. People with high self-esteem consider they are worthy and worthwhile, and accept their strengths and weaknesses (University of Texas at Austin, 2013). Self-esteem can be improved by not comparing oneself with others and by exercising self-compassion, affirmation, self-awareness, self-acceptance, forgiveness, balanced core beliefs, and assertiveness (Centre for Clinical Interventions, 2013, State Government of Victoria, 2013b and University of Texas at Austin, 2013).
Anger can be classified as trait anger or state anger. Trait anger is a usual temperament wherein one experiences anger frequently at different intensities, whereas state anger is the degree of anger a person experiences at a specific time (Spielberger, 1999). Anger can be reduced by forgiveness (Wilkowski, Robinson, & Troop-Gordon, 2010), the appropriate expression of anger, and by balanced thought (Government of Scotland, 2013 and State Government of Victoria, 2013a).
Many previous studies that addressed the effects of group therapy used quantitative methods, but it is difficult to describe the changing process of the participants using such measures. Qualitative research provides an understanding of the changing process of participants. Furthermore, few studies have examined the effects of group therapy on the adolescent children of immigrants. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to describe participants' experiences of group therapy and to evaluate the effects of group therapy on self-esteem and state anger in a cohort of the adolescent children of immigrants.
