Emotion theories and adolescent well-being: Results of an online intervention.

Abstract

Individuals' theories about emotions-the beliefs about the nature of emotions and the ability to influence them-have been linked to well-being. However, their causal role is not clear. To address this issue, we delivered a randomized controlled intervention to 1,645 middle school students that targeted their theories of emotion through interactive online modules. Students were taught that they could modify their emotions, get better at modifying their emotions with practice, and use strategies to improve their well-being. One month later, we found that students assigned to the intervention condition (compared to an active control condition) reported more adaptive theories of emotion and greater emotional well-being in school, although well-being outside of school was unchanged. Secondary analyses showed that these effects were present regardless of students' race, gender, or grade level. These findings suggest that theories of emotion may be a promising target for improving adolescent well-being. (PsycINFO Database Record

Measuring Teachers’ Social-Emotional Competence: Development and Validation of a Situational Judgment Test

“…In addition, profession-specific display rules for emotions may affect the ways in which teachers deal with their affective experiences (Sutton, 2004). Further underpinning the idea that a context-specific assessment of social-emotional competence is needed, Smith et al (2018) found that an intervention targeting the theories of emotions of adolescents in the school context was associated with greater school-related well-being, yet their general well-being remained unchanged.…”

Harnessing Wise Interventions to Advance the Potency and Reach of Youth Mental Health Services

“…Thus, holding fixed as opposed to growth mindsets may reflect a cognitive vulnerability for psychopathology in youth: one that WIs have been shown to mitigate. Thirty-to-ninety-minute, computer-based WIs teaching adolescents that personal traits are malleable have prevented depression symptoms and improved well-being in non-clinical samples (Miu & Yeager, 2015, OR = .55, with the WI group showing lower odds of reporting clinically-elevated levels of depression; (Smith et al, 2018), d = .11, with the WI group showing relative improvements in well-being at school) and reduced depression and anxiety symptoms in high-risk adolescent samples , all compared to active control interventions. Thus, growth mindset WIs, along with other WIs addressing different cognitive vulnerabilities, may represent well-targeted strategies for reducing distress in adolescents with varying levels of clinical need.…”

“…Indeed, WIs routinely meet the criteria for disseminable, novel psychosocial treatments described by (Kazdin & Rabbitt, 2013). They routinely hold potential to improve treatment reach (the capacity to reach individuals not usually served or well served by traditional service delivery models, given their brevity); are frequently scalable (they possess the capacity to be applied on a large scale or larger scale than traditional service deliverye.g., through delivery to entire schools or classrooms simultaneously: (Miu & Yeager, 2015), are affordable (relatively low cost compared to that of the usual model, which relies on individual treatment by highly trained professionals, as in free online WIs: (Oettingen & Reininger, 2016), may help expansion the non-professional workforce (increases the number of providers who can deliver interventions, as in teacher-delivered WIs: (Conrod et al, 2013); they may expand settings where interventions are provided (they may bring mental health interventions to locales and everyday settings where people in need are likely to participate or attend already, such as schools, (Halliwell & Diedrichs, 2014), and personal mobile devices, (Kauer et al, 2012), and possess feasibility and flexibility of intervention delivery (capacity for interventions to be implemented and adapted to varied local conditions to reach diverse groups in need, as in multiple growth mindset intervention adaptations for unique populations: (Schleider & Weisz, 2016Miu & Yeager 2015;Smith et al, 2018). Based on these metrics (identified by Kazdin andRabbitt, 2013 andKazdin (2018) as key indicators of interventions' disseminability potential), when tailored to youth mental health needs, evidence-based WIs may dramatically expand the accessibility of mental health supports for the many youths who might not otherwise receive them, and perhaps improve the potency of those services for those who do.…”

“…Notably, the full contents of most of these WIs were not clearly accessible to others for use in other contexts, with the exception of versions of the growth mindset WI (Smith et al, 2018 - (Duckworth et al, 2013; see www.woopmylife.org), and one WI that qualified as Questionable in efficacy for general distress and aggression, a values affirmation WI (Thomaes et al, 2011; WI procedure fully detailed in-text).…”

Contributions of fixed mindsets and hopelessness to anxiety and depressive symptoms: A commonality analysis approach

“…personality, have directly reduced internalizing distress . Three different interventions teaching emotion malleability beliefs have improved the perceived efficacy of psychotherapy in parents Smith et al, 2018), school-related wellbeing in adolescents Smith et al, 2018), and adaptive emotion regulation strategy use (e.g., increased acceptance and perspective-taking) in adults (Kneeland et al, 2016). The substantial overlap in variance shared with anxiety and depression between mindsets and hopelessness implies that interventions that effectively target emotion and anxiety mindsets may be able to effectively target hopelessness.…”