Effectiveness of positive psychology interventions: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Carr, Alan; Cullen, Katie; Keeney, Cora; Canning, Ciaran; Mooney, Olwyn; Chinseallaigh, Ellen; O’Dowd, Annie

doi:10.1080/17439760.2020.1818807

Cited by 336 publications

(337 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…The above-mentioned findings may offer empirical support to existential positive psychology (e.g., Wong, 2009Wong, , 2011a and highlight the importance of strategies and interventions targeting not only the reduction of negative affect but also the transformation of adversities into growth and increasing positive affect. These strategies are integrated in positive psychology (for interventions, see for instance, Craske et al, 2019;Carr et al, 2020;Hendriks et al, 2020) and especially in existential positive psychology (e.g., Wong, 2010Wong, , 2012Wong, , 2020a. Interventions based on these considerations may be extremely relevant during the COVID-19 crisis, as the experience of negative affect is unavoidable for a large part of the population.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Meaning-Centered Coping in the Era of COVID-19: Direct and Moderating Effects on Depression, Anxiety, and Stress

2021

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The COVID-19 pandemic has subjected most of the world’s population to unprecedented situations, like national lockdowns, health hazards, social isolation and economic harm. Such a scenario calls for urgent measures not only to palliate it but also, to better cope with it. According to existential positive psychology, well-being does not simply represent a lack of stress and negative emotions but highlights their importance by incorporating an adaptive relationship with them. Thus, suffering can be mitigated (and transformed into growth) by, among other factors, adopting an attitude of positive reframing, maintaining hope, existential courage, life appreciation, engagement in meaningful activities, and prosociality. The conglomerate of these elements has been recently denominated as meaning-centered coping. In this study, we evaluated the protective role of this type of coping on mental health. A sample of 12,243 participants from 30 countries across all continents completed measures of Meaning-Centered Coping Scale (MCCS), depression, stress, anxiety and stressful COVID-19 related conditions they experienced. Results indicated that meaning-centered coping was strongly associated with diminished symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression. Moreover, it moderated various relationships between vulnerability factors and markers of psychological distress, especially in the case of depression. These findings call for attention to meaning-centered coping approaches in the context of hardship, such as the current COVID-19 health crisis. In these difficult times, decision-makers and health organizations may integrate these approaches into their guidelines.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Meaning-Centered Coping in the Era of COVID-19: Direct and Moderating Effects on Depression, Anxiety, and Stress

2021

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“…Negative emotions provide the seeds for personal growth (Wong, 2010;Kashdan and Biswas-Diener, 2015), while major adversity and suffering can lead to "post-traumatic growth" (Joseph and Linley, 2006). Wellbeing interventions have been developed within disciplinary silos leading to a focus on isolated components [e.g., psychological interventions (Carr et al, 2020) are often distinct from the promotion of positive health behaviours (Buecker et al, 2020)]. The scientific focus on what constitutes a happy or good life has been described as "scientific polyannaism" (Yakushko, 2019), while the individual pursuit of wellbeing has been described as a socio-cultural construction of western individualism that places importance on wealth, fame and materialistic pursuits (Carlisle et al, 2009;Davies, 2015;Hull and Pasquale, 2018).…”

Section: Complexities and Criticisms Of Wellbeingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mental wellbeing encompasses hedonic (positive emotions) and eudaimonic (flourishing) wellbeing (Diener et al, 1999;Ryan and Deci, 2001;Fredrickson, 2004;Wong, 2012;Ryff, 2014), and while competing theories have focused on one or the other, Seligman's PERMA model-encompassing positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning and achievement-has characterised wellbeing as their combination (Seligman, 2012(Seligman, , 2017. Recent meta-analysis (Carr et al, 2020) reported that a variety of positive psychological interventions consistent with PERMA theory have small to medium effects on wellbeing (g = 0.39) as well as related outcome measures including character strengths (g = 0.46), quality of life (g = 0.48), depression (g = -0.39), anxiety (g = -0.62), and stress (g = -0.58). Findings from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing reported that individuals with higher levels of eudaimonic wellbeing display a three-fold higher rate of survival over an 8.5-year follow-up period (Steptoe et al, 2015).…”

Section: The Individual Domain and Wellbeingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moving Beyond Disciplinary Silos Towards a Transdisciplinary Model of Wellbeing: An Invited Review

2021

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The construct of wellbeing has been criticised as a neoliberal construction of western individualism that ignores wider systemic issues such as inequality and anthropogenic climate change. Accordingly, there have been increasing calls for a broader conceptualisation of wellbeing. Here we impose an interpretative framework on previously published literature and theory, and present a theoretical framework that brings into focus the multifaceted determinants of wellbeing and their interactions across multiple domains and levels of scale. We define wellbeing as positive psychological experience, promoted by connections to self, community and environment, supported by healthy vagal function, all of which are impacted by socio-contextual factors that lie beyond the control of the individual. By emphasising the factors within and beyond the control of the individual and highlighting how vagal function both affects and are impacted by key domains, the biopsychosocial underpinnings of wellbeing are explicitly linked to a broader context that is consistent with, yet complementary to, multi-levelled ecological systems theory. Reflecting on the reciprocal relationships between multiple domains, levels of scale and related social contextual factors known to impact on wellbeing, our GENIAL framework may provide a foundation for a transdisciplinary science of wellbeing that has the potential to promote the wellbeing of individuals while also playing a key role in tackling major societal challenges.

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“…PPIs involve a variety of strategies designed to increase positive affect and life satisfaction, including: expressing gratitude (Cunha et al, 2019), focusing on what went well (Mongrain and Anselmo-Matthews, 2012), performing acts of kindness (Curry et al, 2018), practicing forgiveness (Wade et al, 2014), expressing humor (Wellenzohn et al, 2016) and identifying strengths (Ghielen et al, 2017). Carr et al (2020) conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of 347 studies of PPIs and reported significant small to medium effect sizes for improvements on: positive aspects of well-being (i.e., positive affect and life satisfaction), depression, anxiety and stress.…”

Section: Positive Psychology and Mental Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

Addressing the COVID-19 Mental Health Crisis: A Perspective on Using Interdisciplinary Universal Interventions

2021

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Mental health is reaching a crisis point due to the ramifications of COVID-19. In an attempt to curb the spread of the virus and circumvent health systems from being overwhelmed, governments have imposed regulations such as lockdown restrictions and home confinement. These restrictions, while effective for infection control, have contributed to poorer lifestyle behaviors. Currently, Positive Psychology and Lifestyle Medicine are two distinct but complimentary disciplines that offer an array of evidence-based approaches for promoting mental health and well-being across a universal population. However, these strategies for improving mental health are typically used in isolation. This perspective calls for a new paradigm shift to create and rollout well-designed interdisciplinary universal multicomponent mental health interventions that integrates the benefits of both disciplines, and uses innovative digital mental health solutions to achieve scalability and accessibility within the limitations and beyond the COVID-19 lockdown and restrictions.

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Effectiveness of positive psychology interventions: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Cited by 336 publications

References 50 publications

Meaning-Centered Coping in the Era of COVID-19: Direct and Moderating Effects on Depression, Anxiety, and Stress

Meaning-Centered Coping in the Era of COVID-19: Direct and Moderating Effects on Depression, Anxiety, and Stress

Moving Beyond Disciplinary Silos Towards a Transdisciplinary Model of Wellbeing: An Invited Review

Addressing the COVID-19 Mental Health Crisis: A Perspective on Using Interdisciplinary Universal Interventions

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