People who suffer from chronic self-doubt often need an "extra boost" in order to achieve realistic targets, new research has found.

According to a study by The Ohio State University, published in Basic and Applied Social Psychology, telling people they are capable of gaining their dream job is not enough to make them pursue this goal.

Instead, they were found to need a "vivid picture of what will happen if they succeed" in order to take decisive action.

Patrick Carroll, author of the study, said the findings show that young people who suffer from chronic self-doubt often need more support to get them to chase dreams that are attainable.

"Sometimes students have the grades, the motivation and the ability but simply lack the necessary self-confidence to wholeheartedly invest in the pursuit of a realistic new goal," he commented.

Mr Carroll added that parents, teachers and counsellors can all play a part in steering students with a lack of self-confidence in the right direction.

Earlier this year we reported a Guardian article in which three Chartered Psychologists argued that a person who is suffering from depression might experience a further blow to their self-confidence if they consider themselves to be afflicted by a mental illness.

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