The impact of nine strengths-based positive interventions on well-being and depression was examined in an Internet-based randomized placebo-controlled study. The aims of the study were to: (1) replicate findings on the effectiveness of the gratitude visit, three good things, and using character strengths interventions; (2) test variants of inter-ventions (noting three good things for 2 weeks; combining the gratitude visit and three good things interventions; and noting three funny things for a week); and (3) test the effectiveness of the counting kindness, gift of time, and another door opens-interventions in an online setting. A total of 622 adults subjected themselves to one of the nine interven-tions or to a placebo control exercise (early memories) and thereafter estimated their degrees of happiness and depression at five times (pre-and post-test, 1-, 3-, and 6 months follow-up). Eight of the nine interventions increased happiness; depression was decreased in all groups, including the placebo control group. We conclude that happiness can be enhanced through some ''strengths-based'' interventions. Possible mechanisms for the effectiveness of the interventions are discussed. STRENGTH-BASED INTERVENTIONS AbstractThe impact of nine strengths-based positive interventions on well-being and depression was examined in an Internet-based randomized placebo-controlled study. The aims of the study were to: (1) replicate findings on the effectiveness of the gratitude visit, and three good things, using character strengths-intervention; (2) test variants of interventions (noting three good things for two weeks; combining the gratitude visit and three good things interventions; and noting three funny things for a week); and (3) test the effectiveness of the counting kindness, gift of time, and another door opens-interventions in an online setting. A total of 622 adults subjected themselves to one of the nine interventions or to a placebo control exercise (early memories) and thereafter estimated their degrees of happiness and/or depression at five times (pre-& post-test, one-, three-, and six months follow-up). Eight of the nine interventions increased happiness; depression was decreased in all groups, including the placebo control group. We conclude that happiness can be enhanced through some "strength based" interventions. Possible mechanisms for the effectiveness of the interventions are discussed.

This paper compares diagnoses of the DSM-IV algorithms of the computer-assisted version of the MunichComposite International Diagnostic Interview (M-CIDI)

Objectives: Various positive psychology interventions have been experimentally tested, but only few studies addressed the effects of such activities in participants aged 50 and above. Method: We tested the impact of four self-administered positive psychology interventions in an online setting (i.e., gratitude visit, three good things, three funny things, and using signature strengths in a new way) on happiness and depressive symptoms in comparison with a placebo control exercise (i.e., early memories). A total of 163 females aged 50-79 tried the assigned interventions or the placebo control exercise for one week and completed measures on happiness and depressive symptoms at five times (pre-and post-test, 1, 3, and 6 months). Results: Three out of the four interventions (i.e., gratitude visit, three good things, and using signature strengths in a new way) increased happiness, whereas two interventions (three funny things and using signature strengths in a new way) led to a reduction of depressive symptoms on at one post-measure. Conclusion: Positive psychology interventions yield similar results for people aged 50 and above as for younger people. The dissemination of such interventions via the Internet offers a valuable opportunity for older age groups as well.

Seligman (2002) suggested three paths to well-being, the pursuit of pleasure, the pursuit of meaning, and the pursuit of engagement, later adding two more, positive relationships and accomplishment, in his 2011 version. The contribution of these new components to well-being has yet to be addressed. In an online positive psychology intervention study, we randomly assigned 1624 adults aged 18–78 (M = 46.13; 79.2% women) to seven conditions. Participants wrote down three things they related to either one of the five components of Seligman's Well-Being theory (Conditions 1–5), all of the five components (Condition 6) or early childhood memories (placebo control condition). We assessed happiness (AHI) and depression (CES-D) before and after the intervention, and 1-, 3-, and 6 months afterwards. Additionally, we considered moderation effects of well-being levels at baseline. Results confirmed that all interventions were effective in increasing happiness and most ameliorated depressive symptoms. The interventions worked best for those in the middle-range of the well-being continuum. We conclude that interventions based on pleasure, engagement, meaning, positive relationships, and accomplishment are effective strategies for increasing well-being and ameliorating depressive symptoms and that positive psychology interventions are most effective for those people in the middle range of the well-being continuum.

Character strengths are positively valued traits that are expected to contribute to the good life (Peterson and Seligman 2004). Numerous studies have confirmed their robust relationships with subjective or hedonic well-being. Seligman (2011) provided a new framework of well-being suggesting five dimensions that encompass both hedonic and eudemonic aspects of well-being: positive emotions, engagement, positive relationships, meaning and accomplishment (forming the acronym PERMA). However, the role of character strengths has not been studied so far in this framework. Also, most studies on the relationships between character strengths and well-being only have only relied on self-reports. This set of two studies examines the relationships of character strengths and the orientations to well-being in two cross-sectional studies (Study 1: N = 5521), while also taking informant-reports into account and utilizing different questionnaires to control for a possible method bias (Study 2: N = 172). Participants completed validated assessments of character strengths and the PERMA dimensions (self-reports in Study 1, self-and informant-reports in Study 2). Results showed that in self-reports, all strengths were positively related to all PERMA dimensions, but there were differences in the size of the relationships. Accomplishment, for example, showed the strongest associations with strengths such as perspective, persistence, and zest, whereas for positive relationships, strengths such as teamwork, love, and kindness were the best predictors. These findings were largely confirmed by informant-reports in Study 2. The findings provide further support for the notion that character contributes to well-being and they could guide the development of strengths-based interventions tailored to individual needs.

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.

This paper introduces the Composite International Diagnostic – Screener (CID–S) for mental disorders, a 12‐item self‐report questionnaire that is based on core diagnostic questions from the Composite International Diagnostic Interview for the assessment of DSM‐IV and ICD‐10 disorders (CIDI) for use in two‐stage epidemiological designs. Data are reported relating to the performance of the CID–S in a two‐stage study of a random sample of 1095 respondents, using a wide range of DSM‐IV/CIDI diagnoses (somatoform, anxiety, depressive, other affective, and substance‐use disorders). In the first stage, all subjects filled out the screening instrument. Seven to 30 days later trained clinical interviewers administered the computer‐assisted full CIDI. The CID–S had an overall sensitivity of 85.3% (range for specific diagnoses 74.7% for alcohol use disorders to 100% for panic disorders) and negative predictive value (NPV) of 92.0% (range 91.0%–100%) for any current (12‐month) diagnosis and similar values for lifetime disorders (80.7%, NPV: 85.1%). Likelihood for a DSM‐IV diagnosis increased steadily from 10.5% among screen negatives, to 24.9% among those endorsing one screening item to 100% among those endorsing more than eight of the screening items. The performance of the individual CID–S items overall was good, except for three disorders: agoraphobia, somatoform disorders and substance use disorders. Overall, the CID–S was found to be a time‐efficient diagnostic screening tool for most mental disorders (except for some somatoform and substance use disorders), when used in a two‐stage design with a two to 12 week interval between investigations. Copyright © 1999 Whurr Publishers, Ltd.

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.