The Impact of CBT on Self-Esteem: The Mediating Role of Perceived Loneliness Among Only Children

The psychosocial development of only children has been a subject of debate particularly when considering their self-esteem. There is an increasing evidence highlighting that, only children are benefitted from greater parental attention and resources, research suggests that only children may hinder social development and affect self-worth due to the lack of sibling interactions. For this purpose, adult only children in the age range from 18 to 35 were selected through purposive sampling method. Perceived Loneliness Scale by Praveen Kumar Jha (1997) and Rosenberg's Self-Esteem scale (1965) was used for this research. Mediation analysis was used to find out the effect of the CBT intervention. The results reveal that CBT intervention has an indirect effect on self-esteem by reducing loneliness. It also highlights that, majority of the only children suffer from high loneliness and moderate levels of self-esteem. These findings offer meaningful implications of psychological intervention among only children.