An article from the wider PSRT project has been published in the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction. The open-access paper “Failure-Related State Orientation and Self-Esteem Change in Inpatient Addiction Treatment for Illicit Drug Addiction” examines how failure-related state orientation (AOF) relates to the self-esteem of people in inpatient drug addiction treatment — and how self-esteem changes over the course of treatment.
The publication
Fankhänel, T., Wicha, U., Melzer, S., Frese, T., & Domurath, J. (2026). International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction. The paper was received on 18 September 2025, accepted on 21 February 2026, and is freely available as an open-access original article.
Read the article (DOI: 10.1007/s11469-026-01650-2)
What was investigated
Addiction to illegal drugs is frequently associated with low self-esteem. A pronounced state orientation after failure — the tendency to dwell on setbacks rather than remaining able to act — is likewise regarded as a potential risk factor for diminished self-esteem. Inpatient addiction treatment addresses exactly this: it aims to improve coping with self-esteem-threatening experiences.
In a 24-week German inpatient addiction programme, failure-related state orientation was assessed at treatment entry, and multidimensional self-esteem (MSWS) was measured at baseline and discharge. Of 261 enrolled rehabilitants, 134 completed treatment and were included in the longitudinal analyses. Linear mixed-effects models tested the effects of time, state orientation and their interaction, controlling for age and gender.
Results
Emotional, social and body-related self-esteem increased significantly over the course of treatment; performance-related self-esteem did not change. Higher failure-related state orientation was associated with lower emotional, social and body-related self-esteem across all measurement points. The time × state orientation interactions were not significant.
The authors suggest that future research should examine strategies to further strengthen the self-esteem of state-oriented individuals — a concern that connects directly to the aims of the Personality-Oriented Self-Regulation Training.