Effect of Rational Digital Storytelling Intervention on Depression Among Adolescent-Athletes with Special Educational Needs

Depression is a major mental health issue among athletes. This study aimed to determine the effect of a rational digital storytelling intervention on depression among a sample of adolescent-athletes with special educational needs. Participants were sixty in-school adolescent-athletes with special educational needs (treatment group, n = 30, control group, n = 30) having moderate to severe depression. The treatment group participated in the rational digital storytelling intervention, over a twelve-week period whereas the control group was exposed to oral storytelling at precisely the same timeframe, with the meeting sessions holding 2 times weekly. The Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI II) and The Child and Adolescent Scale of Irrationality (CASI) were used for gathering data at 3-time points. Results suggest that exposure to a rational digital storytelling intervention brought about more considerable reduction in mean depression score among the adolescent-athletes in the experimental group when compared with the adolescent-athletes in the control group (t(59) = − 21.312, p =.001, effect size = 5.50). Follow-up results revealed more sustenance of the significant reduction in mean depression score of the adolescent-athletes in the experimental group when compared with the adolescent-athletes in the control group (t(59) = − 16.441, p =.001, effect size = 4.24).