Randomized Trial Investigating of a Single-Session Character-Strength-Based Cognitive Intervention on Freshman’s Adaptability

Abstract

To investigate the efficiency of a single-session character-strength-based cognitive intervention on enhancing freshmen's adaptability. Method: A randomized trial, pretest, posttest, follow-up intervention was employed using repeated-measures analyses to evaluate the effect. This 90-min intervention contained four activities with 52 undergraduate freshmen (age 17-20) randomly assigned to the intervention and control group, 38 of whom completed all the programs (19 of each group). Results: Compared with the control group, the intervention group showed a remarkable increase in well-being and a significant reduction in depression and anxiety at post and follow-up assessment. The stress level of the intervention group significantly decreased only at the follow-up test. Time effect and the interaction between time and group were significant in anxiety and stress. Conclusions: This intervention can quickly reduce negative affect and elevate well-being for freshmen. It expands the role of social worker in the prevention of mental illness among college population.

Strength-Based Flourishing Intervention to Promote Resilience in Individuals With Physical Disabilities in Disadvantaged Communities: A Randomized Controlled Trial

“…WBT was used as the sequential treatment for CBT (Fava et al, 2011). Character strengths could also be fused with CBT, which showed reliable efficacy in promoting mental health and well-being (Duan & Bu, 2019; Duan et al, 2019).…”

“…According to our previous experiences (Duan & Bu, 2019; Duan et al, 2019), we believe that combining strength-based strategies with the traditional WBT is reasonable to construct an SFI. For example, the character strength–based cognitive intervention (SCI; Duan & Bu, 2019; Duan et al, 2019) equips the existing CBT model with character strengths (i.e., positive personal assets; Peterson & Seligman, 2004) by conducting two successive intervention sections, that is, cognition (which focuses on the awareness and exploration of an individual’s signature strengths) and behavioral (which focuses on the application of an individual’s signature strengths) sections. The effectiveness of SCI in promoting well-being and alleviating negative emotions has been repetitively shown in existing literature (Duan & Bu, 2019; Duan et al, 2019).…”

“…The Chinese versions of Strength Knowledge Scale (SKS, eight items) and Strength Use Scale (SUS, 14 items) were used for manipulation check, measuring the awareness and utilization of participants’ character strengths (Duan et al, 2017; Govindji & Linley, 2007). SKS and SUS have demonstrated intervention benefits in previous character SCIs (Duan & Bu, 2019; Duan et al, 2019). Each item of SKS (e.g., “I know when I am at my optimal condition”) and SUS (e.g., “I can use my strengths in different situations”) was constructed as a 7-point Likert-type scale (1 = strongly disagree ; 7 = strongly agree ).…”

“…For example, the character strength–based cognitive intervention (SCI; Duan & Bu, 2019; Duan et al, 2019) equips the existing CBT model with character strengths (i.e., positive personal assets; Peterson & Seligman, 2004) by conducting two successive intervention sections, that is, cognition (which focuses on the awareness and exploration of an individual’s signature strengths) and behavioral (which focuses on the application of an individual’s signature strengths) sections. The effectiveness of SCI in promoting well-being and alleviating negative emotions has been repetitively shown in existing literature (Duan & Bu, 2019; Duan et al, 2019). There are also a few successful illustrations where strength-based approaches (e.g., character strengths interventions) could help build resilience and flourish.…”

Editorial: Positive Education: Theory, Practice, and Evidence

“…The eight remaining papers focused on a part of the positive education model. Research has shown that character strengths are linked to positive youth development (Park et al, 2004;Duan et al, 2015) and numerous valued outcomes (e.g., decreases in depression, increase in life satisfaction, and achievement) (Duan and Bu, 2017;Schutte and Malouff, 2019). In line with previous research, Zhang and Chen discovered that certain character strengths, namely, hope, curiosity, zest, perseverance, and love bear the strongest correlations with subjective wellbeing.…”