Changes in the network structure of mental health after a multicomponent positive psychology intervention in adolescents: A moderated network analysis

Abstract

The effectiveness of multicomponent positive psychology interventions (MPPIs) on adolescents' mental health has been studied with the use of standard procedures throughout the scientific literature. However, little is known about the potential mechanisms underlying the network structure of mental health following the dual‐factor model after an MPPI. We relied on network analysis to explore the reorganization of the connections between mental health indicators after a school‐based MPPI. Adolescents from two high schools in Spain were randomly allocated to the 6‐week intervention group (n = 85) or to the control group (n = 135). Network analysis showed that the relations between the two differentiated network dimensions of mental health (i.e. well‐being and psychological distress) changed after the intervention. Unlike control participants, emotional well‐being was negatively associated with depression and stress, while psychological well‐being was positively related to stress after the intervention. The present study supports the viability of the network approach in analyzing the connections between mental health indicators as defined by the dual‐factor model and the contribution of MPPIs to change the complex pattern of relations between the dimensions of well‐being and psychological distress.

Mechanisms of Change in a Digital Five Ways to Wellbeing Intervention: A Network Intervention Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial

“…In addi�on, our study contributes to a poten�al new area of wellbeing research that studies wellbeing constructs in a network approach (e.g. Bjørndal et al, 2023;Merrit et al, 2023;Tejada-Gallardo et al, 2022;Woerkom et al, 2022).…”

“…Only the PPI was shown to change the global network of mental health seemingly through affec�ng posi�ve aspects of wellbeing (both hedonic and eudaimonic) and hence reorganizing the network of mental health (including symptoms of depression) (Blanco et al, 2020). In another study, also using a network approach, adolescence receiving a school based MMPI showed that rela�ons between two differen�al network dimensions of mental health (wellbeing and psychological distress) changed a�er the interven�on (Tejada-Gallardo et al, 2022). To our awareness, the present study is among the first to apply NIA to assess mechanisms of change in MPPIs.…”

“…Another study of a MPPI, were healthy employees focused on exploring posi�ve emo�ons, doing new ac�vi�es, reframing nega�ve thoughts, and adop�ng an adap�ve mind-set, showed that improvements in wellbeing were possibly mediated through posi�ve emo�ons (Hendriks et al, 2020). Furthermore, one recent study also exploring mechanisms, documented how a MMPI for adolescents may have worked through changing the connec�on between different dimensions (wellbeing and psychological distress) of mental health (Tejada-Gallardo et al, 2022). Considering a limited number of studies, there is a need for more research on how MPPIs work, and how they can promote wellbeing and prevent illbeing.…”

A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial of a Multicomponent Positive Psychological Intervention: The Potential Mechanism of Altruism

“…Instead, network analysis revealed unique changes in the patterns of connection between positive and negative mental health components among PPI participants (Blanco et al, 2020). Similarly, adolescents who received an MPPI did not show significant improvements in their anxiety levels compared with those who received a control intervention; however, the network analysis showed that the network structure of adolescent mental health changed immediately following the intervention (Tejada-Gallardo et al, 2022).…”

“…Most previous studies have used network analyses to examine the connections and dynamic influences among psychopathological symptoms (Contreras et al, 2019). Among the relatively few network analyses in MPPI research, only the outcomes of interventions were evaluated, and positive intervention components were ignored (Blanco et al, 2020; Tejada-Gallardo et al, 2022). Following our second RCT, we applied MPPI and MPPI + Information interventions in the present study and used ANOVA to compare their effectiveness in terms of the intervention components and outcomes.…”