Background
Positive psychology interventions (PPIs) have shown to be a promising approach towards improving psychological wellbeing, which in turn has been indicated to improve physical health and productivity. However, online applications of PPIs have typically been assessed in small samples with waitlist rather than active control groups, limiting the generalizability of the results.
Hypotheses/Research Questions
The aim of the study was to determine whether a six-week multi-component PPI program would result in greater improvements in mental wellbeing outcomes relative to those in the active control group by the end of the intervention.
Sample Characteristics and Sample Size
Participants were first year psychology students recruited from the University of New South Wales. A total of 326 participants were included in the analysis with 163 participants in each group.
Design
Participants were randomly allocated to either the intervention group or the control group. Intervention tasks included acts of kindness, self-compassion, and positive reminiscence, while comparable control tasks included acts of novelty, self-esteem, and neutral reminiscence. Participants were assessed throughout the intervention on their life satisfaction, composite wellbeing, depression, stress, and anxiety symptoms, and self-compassion. Baseline levels of resiliency resources were also assessed.
Results
An intention-to-treat analysis indicated that participants in the intervention group showed greater improvements in life satisfaction and own-worth throughout the intervention period. Life satisfaction improvements reached significance by week six and remained at the post-assessment in week seven (β = 0.23, p = .002). Improvements in composite wellbeing and total depression, anxiety and stress symptoms were significantly greater in participants with fewer resiliency resources at baseline.
Scientific Contribution
This study provides evidence that online PPIs are significantly more effective in improving mental wellbeing outcomes than active control tasks and show particular promise in improving mental wellbeing outcomes in those with poor support resources.