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

Time 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.

Do Positive Psychology Interventions Impact on the Subjective Wellbeing and Depression of Clients? A Systematic Methodological Review

Mental health services are placing a greater emphasis on wellbeing and recovery. The current research investigated if positive psychology interventions (PPIs) increase peoples’ subjective wellbeing and reduce clinical depression. A systematic methodological review was conducted on randomized-control-trials with people attending clinical services. Five databases were searched. A hand search was then completed on the reference lists of the identified articles and the associated journals. Eleven research interventions were reviewed. PPIs were found to significantly increase wellbeing, relative to controls and there were fewer studies indicating a difference in decreasing depression. However, subsequent analysis revealed that the interventions were heterogeneous which limits the drawing of definitive systematic conclusions. A methodological evaluation also found that there were recurring issues: in delivering the interventions, measuring subjective wellbeing, and applying the design. Thus, the methodological quality of the research interventions, as measured by the current review was low. There is emerging evidence that PPIs improve peoples’ mental health. However, there is scope to standardize and to improve the quality of the research interventions.

Effects of Positive Psychology Interventions on the Well-Being of Young Children: A Systematic Literature Review

Over the last 20 years, the effectiveness of positive psychology interventions for the development of the well-being of children and adolescents and the moderation of high levels of anxiety and depression in this population has been largely demonstrated. Emphasis has been placed on the promotion of well-being and prevention of mental health problems in the school context in order to foster, through positive psychology, the cognitive and socio-emotional development of primary and secondary students, e.g., by strengthening positive relationships, positive emotions, character strengths, optimism, and hope. However, little is known about the impact of these interventions on young children. This systematic review aims at examining the effects of positive psychology interventions on the well-being of early childhood children (<6 years old), both in the preschool education context with educators or teachers and also in the family context with parents. Several electronic databases were searched, and the findings systematically reviewed and reported by the PRISMA guidelines. Very few studies met the inclusion criteria (n = 3), highlighting the need for further research in this area. Indeed, all of the selected studies demonstrated the importance of positive psychology interventions with young children to promote positive aspects of development, such as gratitude, positive emotions, life satisfaction, accomplishment, positive relationship, or self-esteem. Limitations in the field are discussed.

Building Positive Organizations: A Typology of Positive Psychology Interventions

Research indicates that Positive Psychology Interventions (PPIs) in the work context have a small positive impact on improving desirable work outcomes, and a small to moderate effect on reducing undesirable work outcomes, suggesting that the effects of PPIs are not trivial, but also not large. Whereas this may be related to the difficulty of changing oneself or one’s happiness levels, the relatively small effects of PPIs may also be due to the predominant use of one-off interventions instead of more structural interventions that reflect policy level commitment. Furthermore, since most PPIs tend to focus on the individual, one could question the long-term effectiveness of such interventions, especially when the work environment remains unchanged. In this manuscript, I introduce a typology of PPIs in organizations by distinguishing between the organizational level they target (the individual or group level), and between one-off and structural interventions. I argue that different types of interventions can strengthen each other, and that to make a sustainable contribution to the optimal functioning of workers, PPIs need to comprise a wide variety of one-off and structural interventions targeting both individuals and groups in organizations. Furthermore, I make suggestions for improving the long-term effectiveness of PPIs by drawing on the literature on transfer of training, nudging, and positive design.

Positive psychology: hope and its role within mental health nursing

This is the twelfth article in a series that explores the meaning of positive psychology and the impact it has on the wellbeing of the mental health workforce. It will focus on positive psychology interventions that help to develop hope and considers how its uplifting effect, through contemporary use in the field of mental health nursing, can be experienced. This article initially introduces the concept of hope then links it with the field of positive psychology. It then focuses on Snyder's theory of hope and its use in promoting wellbeing. It follows with the application of hope within the nursing context. Finally, it refers to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and how hope may be used to support the mental health nursing workforce. The practical activities provided in the article will help the reader increase their own awareness of hope and consider ways to develop its use and transferability within their own life..

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

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.

Mindfulness-based positive psychology interventions: a systematic review

Background There are hundreds of mindfulness-based interventions in the form of structured and unstructured therapies, trainings, and meditation programs, mostly utilized in a clinical rather than a well-being perspective. The number of empirical studies on positive potentials of mindfulness is comparatively less, and their known status in academia is ambiguous. Hence, the current paper aimed to review the studies where mindfulness-based interventions had integrated positive psychology variables, in order to produce positive functioning. Methods Data were obtained from the databases of PubMed, Scopus, and PsycNet and manual search in Google Scholar. From the 3831 articles, irrelevant or inaccessible studies were eliminated, reducing the number of final articles chosen for review to 21. Interventions that contribute to enhancement of eudaimonia, hedonia, and other positive variables are discussed. Results Findings include the potential positive qualities of MBIs in producing specific positive outcomes within limited circumstances, and ascendancy of hedonia and other positive variables over eudaimonic enhancement. Conclusion In conclusion, exigency of modifications in the existing MBIs to bring about exclusively positive outcomes was identified, and observed the necessity of novel interventions for eudaimonic enhancement and elevation of hedonia in a comprehensive manner.