A Positive Psychodrama Intervention to Improve Psychological Well-Being in University Students

Psychological well-being has been conceptualized as the realization of one's potential, the ability to establish meaningful relationships, the capacity to utilize environmental opportunities in line with personal goals, self-direction, and the development of positive self-esteem. Within contemporary educational frameworks, student development is supported not only through instructional services but also through student personal development services, which contribute to identity formation. Psychodrama, as an action-oriented group intervention, aims to enhance psychological well-being through techniques such as enactment, cognitive processing, catharsis, surplus reality, mirroring, confrontation, empathy development, and role flexibility. Previous studies have demonstrated the application of psychodrama across various domains, including reducing anxiety, alleviating hopelessness, enhancing self-esteem, improving communication and social skills, addressing crises and addiction, coping with depressive symptoms and chronic illness, and supporting mental health. The present study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of psychodrama as a psychoeducational intervention on psychological well-being, self-esteem, self-compassion, empathy, and affective awareness among undergraduate nursing students in Turkey. The study will be conducted with students enrolled in a nursing faculty, specifically those who have taken the pediatric nursing theoretical course and are preparing to begin their clinical practicum. This study is designed as a randomized controlled trial. Participants will be recruited from second- and third-year nursing students and will be informed about the study prior to voluntary participation. Eligible participants will be randomly assigned to either an experimental group or a control group (maximum of 20 participants per group). The experimental group will participate in a structured psychodrama program consisting of 10 sessions, conducted twice weekly, each sessi