Abstract

The mental health and well-being of single working mothers is a pressing concern that warrants attention and support, as they often face unique challenges that can impact their self-esteem and vulnerability to depression. This study examined the efficacy of Narrative Therapy (NT) and Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) in enhancing self-esteem and alleviating depression among single working mothers in Lagos, Nigeria. Two null hypotheses guided the study and a quasi-experimental pre-test post-test control group design was adopted to carry out the study. 45 participants (30 participants for experimental groups and 15 participants for the control group) were selected from three Local Government Areas. The instruments for data collection are: Working Mothers Questionnaire (WMQ), the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) was used to measure the participants' levels of depression while Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, was used to assess the participants' levels of self-esteem with reliability indices of 0.89, 0.90 and 0.88 respectively. The descriptive statistics of the percentage were used to describe the demographic factors of the respondents, while the inferential statistics of Analysis of Co-Variance (ANCOVA) were used to test the null hypotheses. Both Narrative Therapy and Solution-Focused Brief Therapy significantly reduced depression levels and improved self-esteem among single working mothers, while Narrative Therapy demonstrated a greater reduction in depression levels and a more significant improvement in self-esteem compared to SFBT. The study recommended the need for accessible, affordable, and culturally sensitive mental health services to support single working mothers.