Enhancing well-being and alleviating depressive symptoms with positive psychology interventions: a practice-friendly meta-analysis

“Third, the benefits of PPIs increased linearly with age, perhaps due to the greater wisdom and more effective emotional regulation and self-regulation associated with older age (Carstensen, Isaacowitz, & Charles, 1999; Linley et al., 2007).”

“Such problems are highlighted by a recent meta-analysis of positive psychology interventions (Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009), which showed the interventions were (a) most effective against notreatment controls, (b) were less effective against “treatment as usual controls”, and (c) were less effective…”

“This study will add to the existing literature and the above meta-analytical review [37] by 1) only including randomized controlled studies, 2) taking the methodological quality of the primary studies into account, 3) including the most recent studies (2009 – 2012), 4) analyzing not only post-test effects but also lon…”

“Indeed, positive psychological interventions have been found to be more effective in individualistic cultures than in collectivistic cultures (Sin & Lyubomirsky 2009).”

“…and withdrawal), impaired self-regulation, and psychopathology; conversely, current data suggest that approach behavior including more engaging perceptions involving interest, approval, or acceptance typically lead to healthier outcomes (Waikar and Craske, 1997; Sin and Lyubomirsky, 2009).”

“For example, older people benefit relatively more than younger people from practicing a range of positive activities (Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009), perhaps because they have more time to commit to the activities, take them more seriously, and engage in them more effortfully.”

“This research indicates that engagement in a wide variety of activities, such as writing gratitude letters, practicing optimistic thinking, socializing, and mentally replaying pleasurable experiences, produces stable increases in SWB (Mazzucchelli, Kane, & Rees, 2010; Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009).”

“nitions, and behaviors rather than reducing negative ones (Sin and Lyubomirsky, 2009).”

“Sin and Lyubomirsky (2009) present a meta-analysis of the SWB treatments ’ effectiveness in altering levels of SWB, and a number of interventions appear to have exerted a bene fi cial in fl uence.”

“Yet, the cultivation of positive emotion has recently been promoted by an explosion of research on happiness enhancing interventions (e.g., Brown & Ryan, 2003; Fredrickson, Cohn, Coffey, Pek, & Finkel, 2008; Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, & Schkade, 2005; Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009).”

“Sin and Lyubomirsky (2009) examined 51 SWB intervention studies and concluded that these were, indeed, effective at enhancing SWB, r .29.”

“…the effect of PPIs on outcome was consistent with the fact that each of these moderators has been found to have significant effects in least three of six previous PPI metaanalyses (Bolier et al., 2013; Chakhssi et al., 2018; Hendriks et al., 2020, 2018; Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009; Weiss et al., 2016).”

“Experimental research suggests that people can intentionally increase their happiness and frequency of positive emotions by practicing a variety of positive activities (for a review and a meta-analysis, respectively, see Lyubomirsky & Layous, 2013; Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009).”

“…Bulletin © 2015 American Psychological Association 2015, Vol. 141, No. 2, 000 0033-2909/15/$12.00 http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0038648 1 depressive symptoms with a level of effectiveness similar to traditional psychotherapy (see Bolier et al., 2013; Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009, for meta-analyses).”

“The e ff ect of kindness is small-to-medium – comparable to other positive psychology interventions (such as ‘ mindfulness ’ , ‘ positive thinking ’ and ‘ counting your blessings ’ ; d=0.34, Bolier et al., 2013; d=0.31, Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009; d=0.44, Weiss, Westerhof, & Bohlmeijer, 2016).”

“Positive psychology researchers have consistently documented the psychological benefits of hope (Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009; Snyder, Rand, & Sigmon, 2002) in college students (Chang & Banks, 2007) and adolescents (Roesch, Duangado, Vaughn, Aldridge, & Villodas, 2010), including for POCI.”

“Positive psychology interventions (PPIs) are characterised by Sin and Lyubomirsky (2009, p. 467) as programs, practices, treatment methods or activities ‘aimed at cultivating positive feelings, positive behaviours, or positive cognitions’.”

“Individual difference factors , such as life satisfaction, can be altered through interventions, unlike personality/temperament variables that are more resistant to interventions (Lyubomirsky et al. 2005; Sin and Lyubomirsky 2009).”

“Interest in SWBrelated interventions is growing, and a variety of potentially effective techniques to alter levels of LS, PA, and NA have been reported (see Seligman, Steen, Park, & Peterson, 2005; Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009).”

“A meta-analysis of the general literature (in all settings) concluded that wellbeing can be sustainably enhanced and depressive symptoms reduced through positive interventions [49].”

“…acquired from research on positive psychology should inform therapy and prevention efforts (e.g., Bono & McCullough, 2006; Duckworth et al., 2005; Frisch, 2006; Ingram & Snyder, 2006; Karwoski, Garratt, & Ilardi, 2006; Seligman, 2002; Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000b; Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009).”

“These include programs involving mindfulness, counting one’s blessings, focusing on signature strengths, positive psychotherapy, savoring positive experiences, and other procedures (18, 122).”

“…(Skeffington et al., 2013), as well as those that have been categorized by others as workplace health promotion (Martin et al., 2009), stress management (Richardson & Rothstein, 2008), or positive psychology and wellbeing interventions (Meyers, van Woerkom, & Bakker, 2013; Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009).”

“Given the characteristics of the study (self-administration, online, one or two interventions per group), small effects were expected (Sin and Lyubomirsky 2009).”

“…have demonstrated that an assortment of brief, simple cognitive and behavioural strategies collectively known as positive interventions can effectively improve happiness and wellbeing (for detailed reviews see Layous and Lyubomirsky 2014; Parks and Biswas-Diener 2013; Sin and Lyubomirsky 2009).”

“…employee coping capacity and improve mental health and well-being, and have been shown to support work-related performance (Bono, Glomb, Shen, Kim, & Koch, 2013; Dawkins, Martin, Scott, & Sanderson, 2015; Luthans, Avolio, Avey, & Norman, 2007; Roche, Haar, & Luthans, 2014; Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009).”

“A meta-analysis established that positive psychology interventions as diverse as writing gratitude letters, practising optimistic thinking, replaying positive experiences and socializing have beneficial effects on levels of depression (91).”

“Some efforts to do just that have been reported (Dunn, Gilbert, &Wilson, 2011; Dunn & Norton, 2013) and they represent an important component of the positive psychology movement (Gable & Haidt, 2005; Seligman, 2002; Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000; Sheldon & King, 2001; Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009).”

“We PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0158092 June 21, 2016 3 / 16 screened the reference lists of included studies and of the meta-analyses of Sin and Lyubomirsky (11), Bolier et al. [12] and the review of Ryff [15] for additional potentially eligible studies.”

“In a recent review of positive psychology interventions, Sin and Lyubomirsky (2009) included a large number of studies which used mindfulness training.”

“Previous research has highlighted the beneficial effects of positive psychology exercises, including a recent meta-analysis indicating that these interventions, overall, increase well-being and reduce depressive symptoms (Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009 ).”

“For example, Sin and Lyubomirsky (2009) found that duration of the positive psychology interventions was a significant determinant of their effectiveness, and that longer interventions were more beneficial for well-being.”

“The first meta-analysis of 51 positive interventions including both clinical and non-clinical samples, conducted by Sin and Lyubomirsky (2009), found that positive interventions are effective, with moderate effect sizes in significantly decreasing symptoms of depression (mean r = 0.31) and…”

“Although PPIs have been mostly examined in non-clinical samples [16], some preliminary evidence exist for their efficacy in clinical samples [16, 17].”

“…personal, behavioral, psychological, and social outcomes (Lyubomirsky, King, & Diener, 2005) it is vital to understand how to lift those who are languishing and unhappy to a more optimal state of functioning (Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009) while protecting those with positive levels from diminishing.”

“In a meta-analysis of 51 positive psychology interventions, meant to enhance well-being and mitigate depression, one can find gratitude interventions, positive writing, and mindfulness interventions among the most occurring (Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009).”

“Sin and Lyubomirsky (2009) recently conducted a meta-analysis of positive psychology interventions *Corresponding author.”

“A discussion of the full range of positive psychology interventions, or even the subset of PE interventions, is beyond the scope of this article (for a review, see Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009 ).”

“PPIs may bypass this problem because they are focused on enhancing positive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors (Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009), and through the practice of gratitude, optimism, acts of kindness, meditation, and other activities that are not stigmatizing (Layous, Chancellor, Lyubomirsky,…”

“Indeed, others have found that the absence of mental illness does not indubitably imply the presence of high levels of positive mental health and vice versa (Sin and Lyubomirsky 2009).”

“28 The intervention was targeted to occur on the SB iPhone app, but participants could also use the SB Web site on their personal computers.”

“Workplace positive psychology interventions are relatively few in number and many previous studies have not focused much on what individuals can do to enhance their own well-being themselves (Sin and Lyubomirsky 2009; Wood et al. 2010; Mazzucchelli et al. 2010).”

“With the emergence of the positive psychology movement, researchers have begun to explore ways to sustain increases in happiness and subjective well-being (Cohn & Fredrickson, 2010; Schueller, 2010; Sheldon & Lyubomirsky, 2006; Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009).”

“Concerns also have been raised about the quality of data used to support some interventions, including the appropriateness of the comparison groups utilized (e.g., Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009; Wood et al., 2010).”

“The use of such a ‘shotgun approach’ (Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009), combining different (positive) intervention elements into a larger, comprehensive program, has previously been suggested to increase chances of establishing effects on indicators of mental well-being (Ramírez et al., 2014), together…”

“Positive psychology (PP) thus appears as a compelling intervention strategy, as it aims to improve the frequency and intensity of positive emotional experiences, including optimism, gratitude, purpose/satisfaction in life, and positive affect, through intentional actions in the form of targeted, structured activities…”

“Positive psychology interventions (PPIs) stem from research that focuses on teaching individuals how to increase positive thinking and behaviors through brief, self-administered exercises [61,62].”

“Depression is common among young people with cancer [31], and interventions based on increasing positive emotion have been shown to relieve symptoms of depression in a meta-analysis [23].”

“Although a growing number of studies show that happiness strategies are effective in an experimental setting (Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009), it remains unclear whether performing these activities is related to boosts in well-being in the real-world.”

“…affect and psychological well-being and have significantly led to reduced symptoms of depression in heterogeneous samples of mostly healthy adults (Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009) and reduced depression in women with metastatic breast cancer (Cheung et al., 2016) and people with Type 2 diabetes (Cohn,…”

“Sin and Lyubomirsky (2009) analyzed 51 studies of positive psychology interventions more generally and found significant improvements for participants’ well-being and depression.”

“Although positive psychology interventions (also known as positive activity interventions) have been shown to have real effects, a recent authoritative metaanalysis revealed that these effects are rather small (White, Uttl, & Holder, 2019; cf. Bolier et al., 2013; Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009).”

“…format, such as individual or group therapy, would likely lead to greater average improvements in well-being than a self-administered approach (Sin and Lyubomirsky 2009), these benefits must be balanced against the anonymity and accessibility afforded by an online, self-administered format.”

“Past research in positive psychology interventions has found that variety is an important moderator of intervention gains and that several techniques are more effective than a single technique [23,36].”

“While studies are beginning to explore the impact of mindfulness based cognitive therapy and positive psychology approaches on positive affect (e.g. Geschwind, Peeters, Drukker, van Os, & Wichers, 2011; Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009), insight into the underlying mechanism of change is largely absent.”

“Sin and Lyubomirsky (2009) define positive interventions as ‘‘treatment methods or intentional activities aimed at cultivating positive R. T. Proyer (&) W. Ruch C. Buschor Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Binzmühlestrasse 14/7, 8050 Zurich, Switzerland e-mail:…”

“…may thus inform academic and health promotion efforts because needs satisfaction can be altered through interventions, unlike personality/temperament variables that are more resistant to interventions (Lyubomirsky King et al. 2005; Lyubomirsky, Sheldon et al. 2005; Sin and Lyubomirsky 2009).”

“Interventions with a positive psychological focus, hich may be compared with meaning therapies in which a positive focus is oriented at finding meaning, showed similarly moderate effects (Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009).”

“Studies supporting the efficacy of positive activity interventions (PAIs) have been primarily conducted in unselected (nonclinical) community samples and examined single positive activities in isolation (for a meta-analysis, see (Bolier et al., 2013; Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009)).”

“At the same time, although not all psychological interventions designed to increase positive affect have been successful (see Parks & Biswas-Diener, 2013), there are several evidence-based interventions for improving happiness (for reviews, see Bolier et al., 2013; Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009).”

“In a meta-analysis of PPIs, researchers found that these types of interventions improve well-being and can effectively treat the symptoms of depression (Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009).”

“…and the difference in change over time was comparable to average effects found in meta-analysis of positive interventions (Bolier, et al., 2013; Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009), the group difference in change from baseline over time was not statistically significant (p = .12) and the effect size was…”

“With the emergence of positive psychology the interest in those types of activities has steadily increased and Sin and Lyubomirsky (2009) already list 51 intervention studies in their meta-analysis.”

“For the present research, we followed the example of meta-analyses that conducted and reported both fixed-effects and randomeffects models (e.g., Kirsch et al., 2008; Shamosh & Gray, 2007; Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009).”

“Increasing evidence shows that people can purposely and effortfully improve their own happiness through simple self-directed positive practices (Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009).”

“Given that not all subjects completed each exercise and to account for the order of exercise administration and age (given data about greater impact of PP exercises in older adults [20]), we compared scores across the exercises on all outcome variables (change in hopelessness, change in optimism, utility, ease, effica…”

“One possible avenue of research could compare humor use training with training in the use of other positive psychology techniques that also promote increased positive affect, such as savoring or gratitude expression (Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009).”

“For instance, a meta-analysis revealed that interventions aimed at enhancing positive emotions (e.g., encouraging gratitude, considering positive events) enhance well-being and decrease depressive symptoms (Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009).”