Do beliefs in the malleability of well‐being affect the efficacy of positive psychology interventions? Results of a randomized placebo‐controlled trial

Purpose: Incorporating the resource-oriented music therapy framework, the present study aims to examine the effectiveness of a designed protocol, integrating positive psychology, and elements of music therapy, in increasing the sense of hope and enhancing emotional competence, hence decreasing anxiety and increasing subjective happiness of the adolescents with anxiety symptoms. Method: Adopting a two-arm randomized controlled trial, 106 Grade 8 to Grade 9 students were recruited from three secondary schools in Hong Kong and randomized into experimental groups and no-treatment control groups. Results: Students in the experimental groups had significant increases in scores of hope, emotional competence, subjective happiness, and significant decrease in anxiety symptoms. Changes in hope were a significant mediator in the relationship between the intervention and decrease in anxiety symptoms and increase in subjective happiness. Discussion: The study provides evidence that integrating positive psychology and music therapy is effective in alleviating psychopathology and enhancing well-being of adolescents.

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A Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial of the Peer Tree Digital Intervention Targeting Loneliness Iin Young People: A Study Protocol

10.21203/rs.3.rs-659120/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Michelle H Lim ◽

Lily Thurston ◽

Robert Eres ◽

Thomas L Rodebaugh ◽

Mario Alvarez-Jimenez ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Randomised Controlled Trial ◽

Social Anxiety ◽

Young People ◽

Positive Psychology ◽

Controlled Trial ◽

Smartphone Application ◽

Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial ◽

Positive Psychology Interventions ◽

Randomised Controlled

Abstract Background: Young people are vulnerable to experiencing problematic levels of loneliness which can lead to poor mental health outcomes. Loneliness is a malleable treatment target and preliminary evidence has shown that it can be addressed with digital platforms. Peer Tree is a strengths-based digital smartphone application aimed at reducing loneliness. The study aim is to reduce loneliness, and assess the acceptability, usability, and feasibility of Peer Tree in young people enrolled at university. Methods: This will be a pilot randomised controlled trial (RCT) comparing a strengths-based digital smartphone application (Peer Tree) with a treatment as usual (TAU) condition. Forty-two young people enrolled at university will be recruited for this pilot RCT. Participants with suicidality risk, acute psychiatric symptoms in the past month, or a current diagnosis of a mood or social anxiety disorder will be excluded. Allocation will be made on a 1:1 ratio and will occur after the initial baseline assessment. Assessments are completed at baseline, post-intervention, and at follow-up. Participants in the TAU condition complete the same three assessment sessions. The primary outcomes of the study will be self-reported loneliness as well as the acceptability, usability, feasibility and safety of Peer Tree. Depression, social anxiety, and quality of life variables will also be measured as secondary outcomes. Discussion: This trial will report the findings of implementing Peer Tree, a smartphone application aimed at reducing loneliness in university students. Findings from this trial will highlight the initial efficacy, acceptability and feasibility of using digital positive psychology interventions to reduce subthreshold mental health concerns. Findings from this trial will also describe the safety of Peer Tree as a digital tool. Results will contribute evidence for positive psychology interventions to address mental ill-health.Trial registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry, ACTRN12619000350123. Registered 6th March 2020

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Impact of a School-Based Multicomponent Positive Psychology Intervention on Adolescents’ Time Attitudes: A Latent Transition Analysis

Journal of Youth and Adolescence ◽

10.1007/s10964-021-01562-5 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Claudia Tejada-Gallardo ◽

Ana Blasco-Belled ◽

Carles Alsinet

Keyword(s):

Positive Psychology ◽

Short Form ◽

Well Being ◽

Latent Transition Analysis ◽

Transition Analysis ◽

Positive Psychology Interventions ◽

School Based ◽

Positive Psychology Intervention ◽

Time Attitudes ◽

Latent Transition

AbstractTime attitudes, which refer to positive and negative feelings towards the past, present, and future, are a salient phenomenon in the developmental stage of adolescence and have been related to better well-being. Positive feelings towards time can be promoted in the school setting through empirically validated positive psychology interventions. However, the extent to which these interventions impact the time attitudes of adolescents remains unknown. The current study investigated the influence of a multicomponent positive psychology intervention on adolescents’ transitions between time attitude profiles and how these transitions are related to their emotional, social, and psychological well-being. Participants consisted of 220 (M = 14.98; 47.3% female) adolescents from two Spanish high schools who participated in the six-week Get to Know Me+ program. Adolescents’ time attitudes and well-being were measured via the Adolescents and Adult Time Inventory–Time Attitudes and the Mental Health Continuum–Short Form, respectively, at pre- and postintervention. Participants were clustered in different profiles through a latent profile analysis, and the transitions were analyzed using a latent transition analysis. Five profiles were identified (negative, present/future negative, past negative, optimistic, and positive), and results indicated that adolescents who participated in the intervention were more likely to transition to positive profiles (optimistic and positive) and generally reported higher well-being, especially those in the negative, present/future negative, and optimistic profiles. Preliminary evidence showed that school-based multicomponent positive psychology interventions can have a positive impact on adolescents’ feelings towards time and well-being.

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Fostering Positive Communities: A Scoping Review of Community-Level Positive Psychology Interventions

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.720793 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Corentin Montiel ◽

Stephanie Radziszewski ◽

Isaac Prilleltensky ◽

Janie Houle

Keyword(s):

Positive Psychology ◽

Scoping Review ◽

Well Being ◽

Community Level ◽

Psychology Research ◽

Positive Psychology Interventions ◽

Individual Level ◽

Target Populations ◽

Marginalized Groups ◽

Group Outcomes

Historically, positive psychology research and practice have focused on studying and promoting well-being among individuals. While positive psychology interventions focusing on the well-being of communities and marginalized groups have recently been developed, studies reporting on their nature and characteristics are lacking. The aim of this paper is to examine the nature of community-level positive psychology interventions. It reviews the target populations, intervention modalities, objectives, and desired effects of 25 community-level positive psychology interventions found in 31 studies. This scoping review shows that community-level programs based on positive psychology vary greatly in all these aspects. However, most interventions are aimed at individual-level changes to achieve target group outcomes. Contextual issues such as social conditions, values, and fairness affecting well-being are rarely considered. Discrepancies between community-level positive psychology interventions and community psychology in terms of values and social change are discussed.

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A Phase 1 Randomized Controlled Trial of an At-Home Positive Psychology Intervention for Individuals with Multiple Sclerosis

International Journal of MS Care ◽

10.7224/1537-2073.2020-020 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Melanie E. Freedman ◽

Brian C. Healy ◽

Jeff C. Huffman ◽

Tanuja Chitnis ◽

Howard L. Weiner ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Multiple Sclerosis ◽

Positive Psychology ◽

Controlled Trial ◽

Phase 1 ◽

Intervention Group ◽

Well Being ◽

Control Group ◽

Randomized Controlled ◽

Phone Calls ◽

At Home

Abstract Background: Positive psychology (PP) uses targeted activities to increase the frequency and intensity of positive feelings and may improve overall well-being in medically ill populations. In this pilot study, we examined the feasibility, acceptability and potential impact of a five-week, telephone-delivered, PP intervention for individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS). Methods: Participants were randomized 1:1 to a five-week at-home PP intervention or waitlist control condition. Participants engaged in weekly phone calls with a study trainer and completed one PP exercise, such as recalling a past success, each week. Feasibility was determined by the number of sessions completed, and acceptability was assessed by weekly post-exercise participant ratings (0–10) of ease and utility. Efficacy was explored by examining between-group differences in changes from baseline on psychological variables, health-related quality of life (HRQOL), and self-reported functional activities at five and ten weeks. Results: Thirty patients enrolled in the study. Ninety-three percent of participants (n = 28) completed all exercises. Ease scores ranged from 7.7–8.7 and utility scores ranged from 8.2–8.7. The PP intervention was associated with significantly greater increases (P < .05) in positive affect, optimism, state and trait anxiety, general health, and resilience in the intervention group compared to the control group. Approximately half of the PP participants maintained ≥ 50% of the improvement at 10 weeks. Conclusions: This five-week, telephone-based PP intervention was feasible and acceptable to individuals with MS. Larger randomized controlled trials are warranted to further investigate the utility of this intervention to improve well-being and other health outcomes in MS.

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A Self-Administered Multicomponent Web-Based Mental Health Intervention for the Mexican Population During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial (Preprint)

10.2196/preprints.23117 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Alejandro Dominguez-Rodriguez ◽

Anabel De La Rosa-Gómez ◽

M Jesús Hernández Jiménez ◽

Paulina Arenas-Landgrave ◽

Sofía Cristina Martínez-Luna ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Positive Psychology ◽

Behavioral Activation ◽

Behavioral Therapy ◽

Controlled Trial ◽

Well Being ◽

Web Based ◽

Significance Level ◽

Randomized Controlled

BACKGROUND The COVID-19 pandemic has become a public health emergency of international concern; it has not only threatened people's physical health but has also affected their mental health and psychological well-being. It is necessary to develop and offer strategies to reduce the psychological impact of the outbreak and promote adaptive coping. OBJECTIVE This study protocol aims to describe a self-administered web-based intervention (Mental Health COVID-19) based on the principles of positive psychology supported by elements of cognitive behavioral therapy and behavioral activation therapy to reduce the symptoms of anxiety and depression and increase positive emotions and sleep quality during and after the COVID-19 outbreak through a telepsychology system. METHODS A randomized controlled clinical superiority trial with two independent groups will be performed, with intrasubject measures at four evaluation periods: pretest, posttest, 3-month follow-up, and 6-month follow-up. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two groups: self-administered intervention with assistance via chat or self-administered intervention without assistance via chat. The total required sample size will be 166 participants (83 per group). RESULTS The clinical trial is ongoing. This protocol was approved by the Research Ethics Board of the Free School of Psychology-University of Behavioral Sciences (Escuela libre de Psicología-Universidad de Ciencias del Comportamiento). The aim is to publish the preliminary results in December 2020. A conservative approach will be adopted, and the size effect will be estimated using the Cohen <i>d</i> index with a significance level (α) of .05 (95% reliability) and a conventional 80% power statistic. CONCLUSIONS The central mechanism of action will be to investigate the effectiveness of an intervention based on positive psychology through a web platform that can be delivered through computers and tablets, with content that has been rigorously contextualized to the Mexican culture to provide functional strategies to help the target users cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. CLINICALTRIAL ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04468893; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04468893 INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT DERR1-10.2196/23117

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