Promoting Gratitude as a Resource for Sustainable Mental Health: Results of a 3-Armed Randomized Controlled Trial up to 6 Months Follow-up

Bohlmeijer, Ernst Thomas; Kraiss, Jannis T.; Watkins, Philip C.; Schotanus-Dijkstra, Marijke

doi:10.1007/s10902-020-00261-5

Cited by 48 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 64 publications

(93 reference statements)

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“…Reviews found limited and inconclusive evidence for the efficacy of mainly brief gratitude interventions ( Wood et al, 2010 ; Davis, 2016 ; Dickens, 2017 ). However, recent studies showed a substantial impact on mental health of gratitude interventions of longer duration (Heckendorff et al, 2018; Bohlmeijer et al, 2021 ).…”

Section: Gratitudementioning

confidence: 99%

The Model for Sustainable Mental Health: Future Directions for Integrating Positive Psychology Into Mental Health Care

Bohlmeijer

Westerhof

2021

Front. Psychol.

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This position paper proposes a model for systematic integration of positive psychology interventions (PPIs) in mental healthcare. On the one hand, PPIs can contribute to the decrease of dysfunctional processes underlying mental illness. This evidence is at the core of the new domains of positive clinical psychology and positive psychiatry. On the other hand, a growing number of studies demonstrate that mental health is not merely the absence of mental illness. Mental wellbeing represents a related but separate dimension of mental health. Mental wellbeing reduces the risk of future incidence of mental illness and is highly valued by people receiving psychological treatment as an important aspect of personal and complete recovery and personal growth. This makes mental wellbeing a vital outcome of mental healthcare. PPIs can directly increase mental wellbeing. The model of sustainable mental health is presented integrating the science of positive psychology and mental wellbeing into mental healthcare. This heuristic model can guide both practitioners and researchers in developing, implementing, and evaluating a more balanced, both complaint- and strength-oriented, treatment approach. The role of gratitude interventions is discussed as an example of applying the model. Also, three potential modalities for implementing PPIs as positive psychotherapy in treatment are as: positive psychotherapy as primary treatment, as combinatorial treatment, and as intervention for personal recovery of people with severe or persistent mental disorder. Finally, we argue that longitudinal studies are needed to substantiate the model and the processes involved.

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Section: Gratitudementioning

confidence: 99%

The Model for Sustainable Mental Health: Future Directions for Integrating Positive Psychology Into Mental Health Care

Bohlmeijer

Westerhof

2021

Front. Psychol.

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“…In the current study, we observed that those parents who wrote about perspective taking and gratitude showed a decrease in their negative affect pre-to post-writing, relative to parents who did not reflect on this topic. Reflecting on gratitude has been successfully used as a psychotherapeutic intervention to improve wellbeing and reduce stress [76][77][78] . A study during COVID-19 showed that daily reflections on gratitude increased employees' work satisfaction 79 , while another study involving college students showed that pre-COVID-19 levels of expressed gratitude were predictive of a reduced negative impact of the pandemic on student academic performance 80 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parenting Under Pressure: A Mixed-Methods Investigation of the Impact of COVID-19 on Family Life

Chu¹,

Schwartz²,

Towner³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background: Development and implementation of effective family-based intervention and treatment strategies during COVID-19, and future public health crises, will require a detailed understanding of the ways that COVID-19 has affected parents, children, and families. Qualitative and mixed-methods research is an important means of gaining such detailed information, particularly in the early phases of the pandemic, when the research community continues to explore the meaning of this experience. Methods: We employed thematic analysis to identify themes in parents’ and children’s reflective writing about COVID-19, and explored how citation of certain themes mapped onto quantitative measures of distress commonly used in past psychosocial research on pandemics. Data were collected from N = 56 parents and N = 43 children between April to May 2020.Findings: Analysis of parent and child written reports revealed positive and negative thematic content, though parents expressed more positive themes than children. The most common themes identified from parent reports surrounded concerns about the impact of COVID-19 on their children, health concerns for others, and the stressful balancing act of parenting, schooling, and working from home. In addition, many parents reported gratitude for what they had, and reflected on the upsides of the pandemic for family relations. For children, the most common themes identified surrounded missing school and social relationships. When children expressed positive themes, they tended to be more egocentric reflections (e.g. learning to ride a bike). Both parent and child thematic content mapped onto parent-proxy and parent-self reported quantitative dimensions of parent and child distress. Finally, we observed that parents who reflected on gratitude in their written reports exhibited a decrease in negative affect pre- to -post-writing.Interpretation: Both parents and children are suffering from reduced wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly with the burdens imposed by the closure of in-person schooling. The psychosocial impact of the pandemic on families would likely be even greater in magnitude within less advantaged populations. Future research and policy should focus on identifying how to fulfill children’s social needs and lessen the caregiving burdens during this time.

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“…Forgers, compared to Reflectors, also reported enhanced gratitude (McCullough et al, 2004) from experiencing the pandemic. Gratitude can act as a psychosocial resource for mental health in dealing with life changes (e.g., Bohlmeijer et al, 2020). Gratitude involves recognition of simple pleasures and abundance, even in the face of loss.…”

Section: Emerging Adults' Personality Profiles: Adapting To the Covid...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Emerging Adults’ Outlook on the Future in the Midst of COVID-19: The Role of Personality Profiles

et al. 2022

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Classic lifespan developmental theory describes emerging adulthood and the transition to adulthood as important periods for thinking about one's future life trajectory. Today, youth are facing far-reaching changes to daily life due to COVID-19. This may have negative effects on their future outlook, and the extent of such effects may be related to personality. This study examined emerging adults' (N = 195, M age = 20.58, SD = 3.98) multidimensional personality profiles in relation to the extent that they hold a positive outlook on their future at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Quantitative and brief narrative measures of future outlook were collected. Hierarchical cluster analysis and Latent Profile Analysis revealed two clear personality profiles, labeled Reflectors (n = 106) and Forgers (n = 89). Forgers demonstrated robust personality characteristics indicative of psychologically 'pushing forward' through pandemic-related challenges. Reflectors demonstrated more pandemic reactivity including higher stress but also more psychological integration of the pandemic experience into their sense of self. In terms of future outlook, Forgers reported a positive and expansive outlook on the future across multiple measures. In contrast, Reflectors held more negative, restricted views of what future life might hold. Results are discussed in terms of the role of multi-level personality in dictating emerging adults' future perspectives in the wake of life challenges. Ideas are presented about how to best support young people as they transition into the future, into adulthood, while grappling with the challenges of the pandemic.

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Promoting Gratitude as a Resource for Sustainable Mental Health: Results of a 3-Armed Randomized Controlled Trial up to 6 Months Follow-up

Cited by 48 publications

References 64 publications

The Model for Sustainable Mental Health: Future Directions for Integrating Positive Psychology Into Mental Health Care

The Model for Sustainable Mental Health: Future Directions for Integrating Positive Psychology Into Mental Health Care

Parenting Under Pressure: A Mixed-Methods Investigation of the Impact of COVID-19 on Family Life

Emerging Adults’ Outlook on the Future in the Midst of COVID-19: The Role of Personality Profiles

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