Toward a Better Understanding of What Makes Positive Psychology Interventions Work: Predicting Happiness and Depression From the Person × Intervention Fit in a Follow-Up after 3.5 Years

Proyer, René T.; Wellenzohn, Sara; Gander, Fabian; Ruch, Willibald

doi:10.1111/aphw.12039

Cited by 90 publications

(76 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Their research provides evidence for the effectiveness of PPIs and they identify specific conditions (e.g., individual vs. group vs. online training), which have an impact on the effectiveness of the interventions (see also Bolier et al, 2013). A recent study also supports the notion that the way people work with a PPI can predict a substantial portion of variance in life satisfaction (6%) and depression (10%) about 3.5 years after completion of the intervention (Proyer et al, 2015). Hence, there is broad evidence that encourages further research in this area.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 58%

Strengths-based positive psychology interventions: a randomized placebo-controlled online trial on long-term effects for a signature strengths- vs. a lesser strengths-intervention

et al. 2015

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Recent years have seen an increasing interest in research in positive psychology interventions. There is broad evidence for their effectiveness in increasing well-being and ameliorating depression. Intentional activities that focus on those character strengths, which are most typical for a person (i.e., signature strengths, SS) and encourage their usage in a new way have been identified as highly effective. The current study aims at comparing an intervention aimed at using SS with one on using individual low scoring (or lesser) strengths in a randomized placebo-controlled trial. A total of 375 adults were randomly assigned to one of the two intervention conditions [i.e., using five signature vs. five lesser strengths (LS) in a new way] or a placebo control condition (i.e., early memories). We measured happiness and depressive symptoms at five time points (i.e., pre- and post-test, 1-, 3-, and 6-months follow-ups) and character strengths at pre-test. The main findings are that (1) there were increases in happiness for up to 3 months and decreases in depressive symptoms in the short term in both intervention conditions; (2) participants found working with strengths equally rewarding (enjoyment and benefit) in both conditions; (3) those participants that reported generally higher levels of strengths benefitted more from working on LS rather than SS and those with comparatively lower levels of strengths tended to benefit more from working on SS; and (4) deviations from an average profile derived from a large sample of German-speakers completing the Values-in-Action Inventory of Strengths were associated with greater benefit from the interventions in the SS-condition. We conclude that working on character strengths is effective for increasing happiness and discuss how these interventions could be tailored to the individual for promoting their effectiveness.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 58%

Strengths-based positive psychology interventions: a randomized placebo-controlled online trial on long-term effects for a signature strengths- vs. a lesser strengths-intervention

et al. 2015

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“…The world health organization has considered sleep quality as one of the principles of primary health care on the agenda of the member states and defined it as follows: 'sleep is a physiological mechanism of the body in recovering the lost power and fatigue from physical activity during daily life and is an important criterion to maintain physical and mental health' (19). Since negative emotions are related to affections, general health and poor sleep quality (10), positive psychology aims to carry out studies in relation to anything that gives value to humans' life (20). Results indicated that positive emotional states have a great impact on sleep quality in all stages of life, especially pregnancy.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Positive Psychological States in Predicting Sleep Quality Amongst Pregnant Women

Shirazi

Fardin

Arab

et al. 2016

Iran J Psychiatry Behav Sci

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Background: During pregnancy, due to special hormonal and physiological changes that occur in the body, sleep disorders are very prevalent; therefore, positive psychological states and emotions can have major impacts on overall sleep quality among pregnant women. Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine the effect of 15 positive psychological states (trust in God, optimism, a sense of efficacy, accepting responsibilities, a sense of control, purposefulness, hope, meaningfulness in life, life satisfaction, positive mood and happiness, being social, self-esteem and self-worth, a sense of peace, appreciation, and forgiveness) on predicting sleep quality among pregnant women. Materials and Methods: This descriptive study followed a correlational-predictive design. The statistical population of this study included all pregnant women referred to health care centers in Khash in the first half of 2015, which included 890 individuals. The sampling method was multistage cluster sampling. Overall, 268 questionnaires were distributed among pregnant women, who had the inclusion criteria of the current study, in order to be answer freely and voluntarily. Moreover, to collect data, two questionnaires including positive psychological states (PPS) and the Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) were used. Results:The results of the correlation coefficient indicated that optimism, purposefulness, hope, meaningfulness in life, life satisfaction, positive mood and happiness, a sense of peace, trust in God and forgiveness were significantly related to high sleep quality

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“…These results show an overall positive link between character strengths and well-being, with some being apparently more influential. Even higher levels of subjective and psychological well-being and health can be achieved by applying character strengths (e.g., Lyubomirsky et al, 2005; Seligman et al, 2005; Gander et al, 2013; Proyer et al, 2014). For example, character strengths use (hope, zest) has been shown to predict subjective well-being and correlated positively with self-esteem in a sample of UK students (Proctor et al, 2011) as well as with positive affect for a sample of UK students (Ouweneel et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Higher levels of well-being were also found in studies focusing on the application of specific character strengths like, e.g., gratitude (Emmons and McCullough, 2003), kindness (Otake et al, 2006) or humor (Gander et al, 2013). The effect of character strengths-based interventions (e.g., using your strengths in a new way every day for 1 week; Seligman et al, 2005) on increasing well-being and decreasing depression over time has also been documented (Gander et al, 2013; Proyer et al, 2014). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The German Version of the Strengths Use Scale: The Relation of Using Individual Strengths and Well-being

2017

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Theoretical perspectives in positive psychology have considered the possession and use of strengths equally but in applied research more studies focused on having them, probably due to the absence of psychometrically adequate scales. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the psychometric characteristics of the German language version of the Strengths Use Scale (SUS) and to explore relationships between strengths use and several indicator measures of well-being: the presence of positive and the absence of negative affect, self-esteem as identity aspect, vitality as self-regulatory resource, and stress for capturing the evaluation of difficulties and obstacles impinging on well-being. The original English version of the SUS was translated following recommended independent forward-backward translation techniques. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted, including a German-speaking convenience sample of university students (N = 374). Additionally, the relations of strengths use and well-being indicators were analyzed. Factorial validity revealed a single-factor structure of the German version of the SUS, explaining 58.4% variance (factor loadings: 0.58 to 0.86), approving the scale’s design and showing high internal consistency (Cronbach’s α 0.95). The hypothesized positive relationships of strengths use with positive affect, self-esteem, and vitality were confirmed as well as the negative relationships with negative affect and stress. The German version of the SUS is psychometrically sound and data indicate that individual strengths use and well-being related measures interact. The instrument can be recommended for future research questions such as if and how the promotion of applying individual strengths during education enhances levels of well-being, or how the implementation of strengths use in job-design guidelines or working conditions can result in higher levels of well-being or healthiness.

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Toward a Better Understanding of What Makes Positive Psychology Interventions Work: Predicting Happiness and Depression From the Person × Intervention Fit in a Follow-Up after 3.5 Years

Abstract: Most tested indicators of a person × intervention fit are robust predictors of happiness and depressive symptoms-even after 3.5 years. They might serve for an early estimation of the effectiveness of a positive intervention.

Cited by 90 publications

References 32 publications

Strengths-based positive psychology interventions: a randomized placebo-controlled online trial on long-term effects for a signature strengths- vs. a lesser strengths-intervention

Strengths-based positive psychology interventions: a randomized placebo-controlled online trial on long-term effects for a signature strengths- vs. a lesser strengths-intervention

The Impact of Positive Psychological States in Predicting Sleep Quality Amongst Pregnant Women

The German Version of the Strengths Use Scale: The Relation of Using Individual Strengths and Well-being

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