Logo-autobiography and its effectiveness on depressed Korean immigrant women: A replication study

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to examine the longevity of Logo-Autobiography (LA)’s effects and to identify whether different providers and different types of LA intervention have diverse impact on the outcomes for Korean immigrant women with depression.

Methods: A pre-experimental research was conducted with pre-, post-, and 4-week follow-up tests using the CES-D depressive symptoms and Purpose in Life scales. LA included a structured weekly session for 6 weeks in either individual or group setting, and autobiography writing with predesigned topics for each session. A total of 47 subjects participated in this study. Repeated measures of ANOVA were conducted to investigate if there were differences between the experimental and control groups.

Results: All hypotheses were supported that the experimental group showed 1) significantly lower scores on depressive symptoms, 2) significantly higher scores on purpose in life, and 3) no differences of depressive symptoms and meaning of life scores between medication and non-medication groups, group vs. individual interventions, and among three different providers in the post-test and the 4-week follow-up test.

Conclusions: LA may be considered as another alternative therapeutic intervention in treating Korean-American immigrant women who suffer from depression and lost meaning in life. Further studies are needed with a larger sample size using rigorous randomized designs to validate the effectiveness of the LA.