The effectiveness of painting therapy group psychoeducation in enhancing self-acceptance among Chinese adolescents in secondary school

Self-Acceptance (SA) is crucial for the adolescents’ mental health development. Adolescents with low SA require effective intervention; painting therapy benefits adolescents, but schools lack psychoeducation and intervention strategies. The effectiveness of integrating painting therapy into psychoeducation to enhance SA is explored. This study aims to examine the effectiveness of painting therapy group psychoeducation in enhancing SA among Chinese secondary school adolescents using a quasi-experimental design. Moreover, it also investigates their demographic differences and SA levels. The quasi-experimental design was adopted, involving an experimental group receiving painting therapy group psychoeducation and a control group receiving no treatment. A total of 58 participants voluntarily took part in the intervention. The intervention lasted for ten weeks and long-term follow-up was conducted after twelve weeks from the end of the intervention. Data were collected using the Self-Acceptance Questionnaire and analysed using SPSS 29.0. The findings revealed significant differences (P < .05) in SA levels across gender, students’ origin, grade, family incomes, mother’s and father’s education background, with moderately low SA levels. The painting therapy group psychoeducation significantly enhanced SA (P < .01), and demonstrated long-term effectiveness (P > .05). Theoretically, this study supports the effectiveness of painting therapy group psychoeducation as a nonverbal approach to enhance SA among Chinese secondary school adolescents. The study extends the literature on school-based painting therapy interventions within adolescents’ SA frameworks. Practically, it offers an evidence-based, scalable intervention approach and offers valuable educational suggestions