Pub Date : 2023-10-25DOI: 10.1007/s41042-023-00135-0
Israel Sánchez-Cardona, María Vera, Sonia Cepeda-Hernández, Avery Britt, Natalie Schindler
{"title":"Psychological Capital, Strength Use, and Subjective Health: The Mediating Role of General Engagement","authors":"Israel Sánchez-Cardona, María Vera, Sonia Cepeda-Hernández, Avery Britt, Natalie Schindler","doi":"10.1007/s41042-023-00135-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s41042-023-00135-0","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":73424,"journal":{"name":"International journal of applied positive psychology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135216788","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-23DOI: 10.1007/s41042-023-00133-2
Christian Ehrlich, Sarah E. Hennelly, Natalie Wilde, Oliver Lennon, Alan Beck, Hazel Messenger, Kat Sergiou, Emma L. Davies
Abstract There has been an increase in the number of UK university students disclosing mental health conditions in recent years. This paper describes the evaluation of the Mind Tutor app, an artificial intelligence based wellbeing app specifically designed for first year undergraduate students, which included a chatbot function that guided students to relevant wellbeing content. The content of the app was developed based on data about mental health and wellbeing issues reported by students and focussed on anxiety, low mood, academic study, transition to university and relationships. Two randomised controlled evaluation studies were conducted with N = 177 and N = 240 first year undergraduate students from two UK universities (the second due to delays in development work and difficulties with recruitment in the first trial). The Mind Tutor had no significant impact on student wellbeing. The study suffered from poor recruitment and retention rates. However, further research is warranted to understand factors that may increase engagement and acceptability of app based tools to increase student wellbeing.
{"title":"Evaluation of an Artificial Intelligence Enhanced Application for Student Wellbeing: Pilot Randomised Trial of the Mind Tutor","authors":"Christian Ehrlich, Sarah E. Hennelly, Natalie Wilde, Oliver Lennon, Alan Beck, Hazel Messenger, Kat Sergiou, Emma L. Davies","doi":"10.1007/s41042-023-00133-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s41042-023-00133-2","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract There has been an increase in the number of UK university students disclosing mental health conditions in recent years. This paper describes the evaluation of the Mind Tutor app, an artificial intelligence based wellbeing app specifically designed for first year undergraduate students, which included a chatbot function that guided students to relevant wellbeing content. The content of the app was developed based on data about mental health and wellbeing issues reported by students and focussed on anxiety, low mood, academic study, transition to university and relationships. Two randomised controlled evaluation studies were conducted with N = 177 and N = 240 first year undergraduate students from two UK universities (the second due to delays in development work and difficulties with recruitment in the first trial). The Mind Tutor had no significant impact on student wellbeing. The study suffered from poor recruitment and retention rates. However, further research is warranted to understand factors that may increase engagement and acceptability of app based tools to increase student wellbeing.","PeriodicalId":73424,"journal":{"name":"International journal of applied positive psychology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135405609","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-19DOI: 10.1007/s41042-023-00132-3
Sarah K. Rogers, Whitney M. Whitted, Kevin L. Rand, Jennifer S. Cheavens
Hope, the belief that one will achieve goals via pathway generation and perceived agency, is associated with favorable outcomes, including psychological and physical health. Research with physically ill populations and on hope interventions requires a brief measure of hope with minimal burden. We present the development and validation of a shortened hope scale. Participants included 603 undergraduate students (sample 1), and 951 Amazon Mechanical-Turk workers for samples 2 (n = 602), 3 (n = 200), and 4 (n = 149). We confirmed the two-factor model of hope with the Adult Hope Scale and identified the most strongly loaded items for the Hope Scale–Short Form (HS-SF). The resulting HS-SF maintained the two-factor structure and consists of two agency and two pathways items. The HS-SF is strongly correlated with the AHS, demonstrated good test–retest reliability, and convergent validity. The HS-SF is a valid and reliable measure of hope.
{"title":"Hope Scale-Short Form: Validation of a Shortened Measure of Hope","authors":"Sarah K. Rogers, Whitney M. Whitted, Kevin L. Rand, Jennifer S. Cheavens","doi":"10.1007/s41042-023-00132-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s41042-023-00132-3","url":null,"abstract":"Hope, the belief that one will achieve goals via pathway generation and perceived agency, is associated with favorable outcomes, including psychological and physical health. Research with physically ill populations and on hope interventions requires a brief measure of hope with minimal burden. We present the development and validation of a shortened hope scale. Participants included 603 undergraduate students (sample 1), and 951 Amazon Mechanical-Turk workers for samples 2 (n = 602), 3 (n = 200), and 4 (n = 149). We confirmed the two-factor model of hope with the Adult Hope Scale and identified the most strongly loaded items for the Hope Scale–Short Form (HS-SF). The resulting HS-SF maintained the two-factor structure and consists of two agency and two pathways items. The HS-SF is strongly correlated with the AHS, demonstrated good test–retest reliability, and convergent validity. The HS-SF is a valid and reliable measure of hope.","PeriodicalId":73424,"journal":{"name":"International journal of applied positive psychology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135730580","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-14DOI: 10.1007/s41042-023-00128-z
Jessie A.L. Heaman, Kathlyn M. Cherry, C. Meghan McMurtry, Benjamin Giguère, Margaret N. Lumley
Single session growth mindset interventions can limit the development of depressive symptoms among high school students, yet, few studies have examined whether these interventions affect well-being or differ depending on gender. This study examined the effects of a growth mindset of personality intervention on primary outcomes of depressive symptoms and well-being (i.e., subjective happiness and life satisfaction) in adolescent girls and boys. In a parallel, 2(time) x 2(condition) x 2(gender), randomized control trial using 1:1 blinded allocation, participants were assigned to an experimental (growth mindset of personality) or control intervention (growth mindset of athletic ability). English speaking students in grade 9 and 12 (ages 13–18 years) at three high schools in Ontario, Canada were recruited, and reported depressive symptoms and well-being at baseline and 4-months follow-up. Of 472 participants, 318 participants (58% girls, 60.8% white, M age = 14.9 years) returned for follow-up and were analyzed (experimental, n = 167; control, n = 152). A three-way interaction was identified (F(1,308) = 6.81, p = .01, η2 = 0.022) such that girls endorsed reduced depressive symptoms at follow-up in the experimental condition (d = 0.31), but no such change was observed in boys (d = 0.07). The experimental intervention had no effect on subjective happiness, and effects on life satisfaction require further investigation. Single session growth mindset interventions may be helpful for depressive symptoms in adolescent girls. Future research should examine longer follow-ups and explore intervention features most applicable to boys. Clinical trial registration #: NCT04133389.
{"title":"Changing Minds: An RCT of a Growth Mindset Intervention on Depressive Symptoms and Well-being in Adolescent Girls and Boys","authors":"Jessie A.L. Heaman, Kathlyn M. Cherry, C. Meghan McMurtry, Benjamin Giguère, Margaret N. Lumley","doi":"10.1007/s41042-023-00128-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s41042-023-00128-z","url":null,"abstract":"Single session growth mindset interventions can limit the development of depressive symptoms among high school students, yet, few studies have examined whether these interventions affect well-being or differ depending on gender. This study examined the effects of a growth mindset of personality intervention on primary outcomes of depressive symptoms and well-being (i.e., subjective happiness and life satisfaction) in adolescent girls and boys. In a parallel, 2(time) x 2(condition) x 2(gender), randomized control trial using 1:1 blinded allocation, participants were assigned to an experimental (growth mindset of personality) or control intervention (growth mindset of athletic ability). English speaking students in grade 9 and 12 (ages 13–18 years) at three high schools in Ontario, Canada were recruited, and reported depressive symptoms and well-being at baseline and 4-months follow-up. Of 472 participants, 318 participants (58% girls, 60.8% white, M age = 14.9 years) returned for follow-up and were analyzed (experimental, n = 167; control, n = 152). A three-way interaction was identified (F(1,308) = 6.81, p = .01, η2 = 0.022) such that girls endorsed reduced depressive symptoms at follow-up in the experimental condition (d = 0.31), but no such change was observed in boys (d = 0.07). The experimental intervention had no effect on subjective happiness, and effects on life satisfaction require further investigation. Single session growth mindset interventions may be helpful for depressive symptoms in adolescent girls. Future research should examine longer follow-ups and explore intervention features most applicable to boys. Clinical trial registration #: NCT04133389.","PeriodicalId":73424,"journal":{"name":"International journal of applied positive psychology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135804023","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-13DOI: 10.1007/s41042-023-00124-3
Xueyan Zhang, Jimin Hwang, Pubudu Ranasinghe, Udaynagani Ramadasa, Becca R. Levy, Padmini D. Ranasinghe
In 2004, the Indian Ocean tsunami struck Asia and caused high mortality, displacement, and psychological trauma in Sri Lanka. Previous studies have found that optimism protects against PTSD and depression, whereas pessimistic causal thinking and karma beliefs are associated with depression soon after a trauma. The objective of this study is to examine whether these factors continue to be associated with psychological health among Sri Lankan coastal residents 8 years after the tsunami. A semi-structured survey was conducted in 5 coastal districts. Three hundred twenty-five participants had direct exposure to the tsunami whereas 105 were indirectly or non-exposed. Logistic regression models were used to examine the association between the three psychological predictors and health outcomes, adjusting for relevant covariates including exposure to the tsunami, gender, age, education, and health before the tsunami. Optimism showed an association with lower depression and better self-reported health. Belief in karma was associated with a higher risk of PTSD symptoms. Internal attribution style was associated with PTSD and depression as well. These findings suggest that optimism, causal thinking, and karma belief play a role in long-term psychological health after a disaster and should be studied further and targeted for interventions.
{"title":"Association of Optimism, Causal Thinking, and Karma Beliefs with PTSD and Depression 8 Years After the Tsunami in Sri Lanka","authors":"Xueyan Zhang, Jimin Hwang, Pubudu Ranasinghe, Udaynagani Ramadasa, Becca R. Levy, Padmini D. Ranasinghe","doi":"10.1007/s41042-023-00124-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s41042-023-00124-3","url":null,"abstract":"In 2004, the Indian Ocean tsunami struck Asia and caused high mortality, displacement, and psychological trauma in Sri Lanka. Previous studies have found that optimism protects against PTSD and depression, whereas pessimistic causal thinking and karma beliefs are associated with depression soon after a trauma. The objective of this study is to examine whether these factors continue to be associated with psychological health among Sri Lankan coastal residents 8 years after the tsunami. A semi-structured survey was conducted in 5 coastal districts. Three hundred twenty-five participants had direct exposure to the tsunami whereas 105 were indirectly or non-exposed. Logistic regression models were used to examine the association between the three psychological predictors and health outcomes, adjusting for relevant covariates including exposure to the tsunami, gender, age, education, and health before the tsunami. Optimism showed an association with lower depression and better self-reported health. Belief in karma was associated with a higher risk of PTSD symptoms. Internal attribution style was associated with PTSD and depression as well. These findings suggest that optimism, causal thinking, and karma belief play a role in long-term psychological health after a disaster and should be studied further and targeted for interventions.","PeriodicalId":73424,"journal":{"name":"International journal of applied positive psychology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135852996","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-06DOI: 10.1007/s41042-023-00131-4
Charles H. Hackney
Psychologists’ assumptions about the world influence theory creation, hypothesis testing, and practical applications. In A Secular Age, Charles Taylor describes how the historical process of secularization has shaped the worldviews of those living in the modern West, and how the particularities of that process have influenced our (implicit or explicit) theories of the human condition. Within this worldview, human nature is seen as understandable and describable without transcendent referents, and human flourishing is described in terms of authenticity and personal satisfaction. In this article, I continue the ongoing discussion regarding the ideological underpinnings of the positive psychology movement by connecting them to the process of secularization in the West. I argue that Western secularity influences the vision of flourishing that shapes theory, research, and application within the positive psychology movement. Psychologists and mental health professionals should be aware that our empirical and practical work runs the risk of imposing a vision of human flourishing that is particular to our current historical and geographic milieu, rather than being necessarily true of all of humanity.
{"title":"Positive Psychology in a Secular Age: Exploring the Influence of Secularization on the Ideological Underpinnings of the Positive Psychology Movement","authors":"Charles H. Hackney","doi":"10.1007/s41042-023-00131-4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s41042-023-00131-4","url":null,"abstract":"Psychologists’ assumptions about the world influence theory creation, hypothesis testing, and practical applications. In A Secular Age, Charles Taylor describes how the historical process of secularization has shaped the worldviews of those living in the modern West, and how the particularities of that process have influenced our (implicit or explicit) theories of the human condition. Within this worldview, human nature is seen as understandable and describable without transcendent referents, and human flourishing is described in terms of authenticity and personal satisfaction. In this article, I continue the ongoing discussion regarding the ideological underpinnings of the positive psychology movement by connecting them to the process of secularization in the West. I argue that Western secularity influences the vision of flourishing that shapes theory, research, and application within the positive psychology movement. Psychologists and mental health professionals should be aware that our empirical and practical work runs the risk of imposing a vision of human flourishing that is particular to our current historical and geographic milieu, rather than being necessarily true of all of humanity.","PeriodicalId":73424,"journal":{"name":"International journal of applied positive psychology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135351175","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-05DOI: 10.1007/s41042-023-00130-5
Lena Etzel, Alyssa K. McGonagle, Lydia G. Roos, Jan T. Mooney
{"title":"Correction: All for one, one for all: Compassionate goal orientation, social support, and work engagement","authors":"Lena Etzel, Alyssa K. McGonagle, Lydia G. Roos, Jan T. Mooney","doi":"10.1007/s41042-023-00130-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s41042-023-00130-5","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":73424,"journal":{"name":"International journal of applied positive psychology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134975104","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-10-02DOI: 10.1007/s41042-023-00129-y
Pravani Naidoo, Maroné Oosthuizen
Abstract Despite high enrolment rates at higher education institutions, a perturbing number of first-year university students discontinue their studies. As first-year students constitute a vulnerable group, it is important to investigate ways in which to facilitate their adjustment to university. Extant research within student populations, including first-year students, deems self-compassion to be a robust protective factor in adjustment to university. However, studies rely largely on quantitative research designs, overlooking the voices and everyday experiences of first-year students. Accordingly, this study aimed to qualitatively explore experiences and practices of self-compassion amongst first-year students when faced with the challenges of adjusting to university. To capture in-depth, rich, thick contextual data, 12 South African first-year students participated in semi-structured interviews in their first semester, while follow-up interviews were conducted with 9 participants in the second semester. Themes generated through reflexive thematic analysis highlighted the yin and yang of self-compassion as a valuable conceptual tool to understand and promote first-year students’ experiences and practices of self-compassion. Further, students’ experiences of self-compassion are more nuanced and contradictory than previous research has indicated. Lastly, receiving social support and being self-compassionate constitute reciprocal processes that students engage with in distinct ways, affecting both the depth and breadth of their experiences. Based on this research, self-compassion is vital for strengths-based mental health programmes amongst first-year students. Programmes should promote the practice of the yin and the yang of self-compassion, foster an accepting approach to experiences, and recognise the nuanced, potentially contradictory nature of self-compassion.
{"title":"Self-compassion as a Mechanism to Facilitate the Adjustment of first-year Students to University Environments","authors":"Pravani Naidoo, Maroné Oosthuizen","doi":"10.1007/s41042-023-00129-y","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s41042-023-00129-y","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Despite high enrolment rates at higher education institutions, a perturbing number of first-year university students discontinue their studies. As first-year students constitute a vulnerable group, it is important to investigate ways in which to facilitate their adjustment to university. Extant research within student populations, including first-year students, deems self-compassion to be a robust protective factor in adjustment to university. However, studies rely largely on quantitative research designs, overlooking the voices and everyday experiences of first-year students. Accordingly, this study aimed to qualitatively explore experiences and practices of self-compassion amongst first-year students when faced with the challenges of adjusting to university. To capture in-depth, rich, thick contextual data, 12 South African first-year students participated in semi-structured interviews in their first semester, while follow-up interviews were conducted with 9 participants in the second semester. Themes generated through reflexive thematic analysis highlighted the yin and yang of self-compassion as a valuable conceptual tool to understand and promote first-year students’ experiences and practices of self-compassion. Further, students’ experiences of self-compassion are more nuanced and contradictory than previous research has indicated. Lastly, receiving social support and being self-compassionate constitute reciprocal processes that students engage with in distinct ways, affecting both the depth and breadth of their experiences. Based on this research, self-compassion is vital for strengths-based mental health programmes amongst first-year students. Programmes should promote the practice of the yin and the yang of self-compassion, foster an accepting approach to experiences, and recognise the nuanced, potentially contradictory nature of self-compassion.","PeriodicalId":73424,"journal":{"name":"International journal of applied positive psychology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135833996","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-09-22DOI: 10.1007/s41042-023-00126-1
John Elfers, Patty Hlava, Farrah Sharpe, Sonia Arreguin, Dawn Celeste McGregor
The present study investigated the relationship between cultivating gratitude and coping with grief. The primary research question guiding this study was: What is the correlation between resilience in grief, transcendent gratitude, and nondual awareness? Five measures were administered to collect data for this study: Grief and Meaning Reconstruction Inventory, Adult Attitude to Grief Scale, Gratitude Questionnaire 6, Transpersonal Gratitude Scale and Nondual Awareness Dimensional Assessment. A diverse demographic pool of survey respondents (n = 619) was recruited to determine what correlations might emerge from the data. Bivariate correlational analysis revealed strong correlations among total scores and specific subscales of grief, gratitude, and nondual awareness. Subscale correlations suggested positive correlations among transcendence, valuing a relationship, resilience, and personal growth; and negative correlations with efforts to control the overwhelming emotions associated with grief. Nondual awareness showed moderate correlations with resilience and personal growth, pointing to the centrality of whole-person transcendence in the association of gratitude with flourishing after profound loss. A regression model demonstrated that gratitude and nondual awareness predicted resilience in coping with grief. Conclusions include the potential value of pre-loss cultivation gratitude to enhancing competence in coping with grief.
{"title":"Resilience and Loss: The Correlation of Grief and Gratitude","authors":"John Elfers, Patty Hlava, Farrah Sharpe, Sonia Arreguin, Dawn Celeste McGregor","doi":"10.1007/s41042-023-00126-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s41042-023-00126-1","url":null,"abstract":"The present study investigated the relationship between cultivating gratitude and coping with grief. The primary research question guiding this study was: What is the correlation between resilience in grief, transcendent gratitude, and nondual awareness? Five measures were administered to collect data for this study: Grief and Meaning Reconstruction Inventory, Adult Attitude to Grief Scale, Gratitude Questionnaire 6, Transpersonal Gratitude Scale and Nondual Awareness Dimensional Assessment. A diverse demographic pool of survey respondents (n = 619) was recruited to determine what correlations might emerge from the data. Bivariate correlational analysis revealed strong correlations among total scores and specific subscales of grief, gratitude, and nondual awareness. Subscale correlations suggested positive correlations among transcendence, valuing a relationship, resilience, and personal growth; and negative correlations with efforts to control the overwhelming emotions associated with grief. Nondual awareness showed moderate correlations with resilience and personal growth, pointing to the centrality of whole-person transcendence in the association of gratitude with flourishing after profound loss. A regression model demonstrated that gratitude and nondual awareness predicted resilience in coping with grief. Conclusions include the potential value of pre-loss cultivation gratitude to enhancing competence in coping with grief.","PeriodicalId":73424,"journal":{"name":"International journal of applied positive psychology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136011544","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-09-19DOI: 10.1007/s41042-023-00118-1
Bryant M. Stone, David G. Gilbert
Positive psychological interventions (PPIs) are activities that target positive variables (e.g., gratitude or kindness) to elicit a positive response in a population, such as improving adaptive functioning, promoting well-being, reducing depression, or enhancing quality of life. Despite several decades of evidence, a meta-analysis by White et al. (2019) concluded that the effect sizes of PPIs may be smaller than previously recorded and that their effects on depression may be generally nonsignificant. In the current study, we created a new PPI, called the Best-Self PPI (BS-PPI), to provide a proof-of-concept of two relatively unexplored properties of PPIs that may enhance effect sizes, which are: (1) combining PPI domains (i.e., multiple targeted positive variables) into a single intervention and (2) designing PPIs to target cognitive mechanisms of change. Using a double-masked procedure, we randomly assigned undergraduate students (n = 133) between the ages of 18 and 32 (Mage = 19.97, SD = 1.66; women; n = 85, 63.9%; White: n = 87, 65.41%) to complete either the BS-PPI – containing elements of meaning, character strengths, and optimism – or a control condition before completing measures of depression, psychological well-being, and affect. One day later, the participants completed a measure of affect and the Self-Referential Encoding Task, a behavioral measure of self-referential processing bias, which is the strength and the valance of the words one uses to describe oneself, to test the potential of targeting a cognitive mechanism of change. One week later, participants completed measures of depression, psychological well-being, and affect. The results suggest the BS-PPI did not affect depression, well-being, or affect compared to the control group despite the consistency of this study with many other PPI studies (e.g., sample size, design, and population), which aligns with the White et al. (2019) meta-analysis. We discuss the implications of this failed proof-of-concept for PPI research and recommendations for moving forward with these relatively unexplored properties.
{"title":"Combining PPI Domains and Targeting Cognitive Mechanisms: A Failed Proof-of-Concept for PPI Research","authors":"Bryant M. Stone, David G. Gilbert","doi":"10.1007/s41042-023-00118-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s41042-023-00118-1","url":null,"abstract":"Positive psychological interventions (PPIs) are activities that target positive variables (e.g., gratitude or kindness) to elicit a positive response in a population, such as improving adaptive functioning, promoting well-being, reducing depression, or enhancing quality of life. Despite several decades of evidence, a meta-analysis by White et al. (2019) concluded that the effect sizes of PPIs may be smaller than previously recorded and that their effects on depression may be generally nonsignificant. In the current study, we created a new PPI, called the Best-Self PPI (BS-PPI), to provide a proof-of-concept of two relatively unexplored properties of PPIs that may enhance effect sizes, which are: (1) combining PPI domains (i.e., multiple targeted positive variables) into a single intervention and (2) designing PPIs to target cognitive mechanisms of change. Using a double-masked procedure, we randomly assigned undergraduate students (n = 133) between the ages of 18 and 32 (Mage = 19.97, SD = 1.66; women; n = 85, 63.9%; White: n = 87, 65.41%) to complete either the BS-PPI – containing elements of meaning, character strengths, and optimism – or a control condition before completing measures of depression, psychological well-being, and affect. One day later, the participants completed a measure of affect and the Self-Referential Encoding Task, a behavioral measure of self-referential processing bias, which is the strength and the valance of the words one uses to describe oneself, to test the potential of targeting a cognitive mechanism of change. One week later, participants completed measures of depression, psychological well-being, and affect. The results suggest the BS-PPI did not affect depression, well-being, or affect compared to the control group despite the consistency of this study with many other PPI studies (e.g., sample size, design, and population), which aligns with the White et al. (2019) meta-analysis. We discuss the implications of this failed proof-of-concept for PPI research and recommendations for moving forward with these relatively unexplored properties.","PeriodicalId":73424,"journal":{"name":"International journal of applied positive psychology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135015080","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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