Appreciating the Good Things in Life During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Randomized Controlled Trial and Evaluation of a Gratitude App
Open accessAbstract
The Covid-19 pandemic has had many negative consequences on the general public mental health. The aim of this study was to test the effectiveness of and satisfaction with an app with gratitude exercises to improve the mental health of people with reduced mental well-being due to the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as potential mechanisms of well-being change and dose–response relationships. A two-armed randomized controlled trial design was used, with two groups receiving the 6-week gratitude intervention app either immediately (intervention group, n = 424) or after 6 weeks (waiting list control group, n = 425). Assessments took place online at baseline (T0), six weeks later (T1) and at 12 weeks (T2), measuring outcomes (i.e., mental well-being, anxiety, depression, stress), and potential explanatory variables (i.e., gratitude, positive reframing, rumination). Linear mixed models analyses showed that when controlled for baseline measures, the intervention group scored better on all outcome measures compared to the control group at T1 ( d = .24–.49). These effects were maintained at T2. The control group scored equally well on all outcome measures at T2 after following the intervention. Effects of the intervention on well-being were partially explained by gratitude, positive reframing, and rumination, and finishing a greater number of modules was weakly related to better outcomes. The intervention was generally appealing, with some room for improvement. The results suggest that a mobile gratitude intervention app is a satisfactory and effective way to improve the mental health of the general population during the difficult times of a pandemic.
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CSQ-8 has excellent internal consistency.
“An excellent internal consistency was found by Kloos et al. [48].”
Based on previous studies, no risks of participation are foreseen.
“Based on previous studies of comparable applications for other target groups [48, 74], no risks of participation are foreseen.”
From Effectiveness of a positive psychology and mindfulness-based app on mental health for parents of children with a neurodevelopmental disorder: study protocol of a pragmatic international randomized controlled trial (2024) · cites this paper as [48]
The Methods > Procedure passage describes screening out people with elevated anxiety or depressive symptoms to avoid their mistaking the app for a substitute for professional treatment. The passages located by searching for participation risks, adverse effects, and safety do not state that comparable apps pose no foreseeable risks of participation. (LLM, conf=0.73)
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Self-citationExploring Compassion-Based Positive Psychology for Cardiac Recovery: A Mixed Methods Case Study
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Self-citationCebolla, A., Fernández-Castilla, B., Lecuona, O. Z., Navarro‐Siurana, J., Galante, J., Sarrión-Castelló, P., Vidal, J., Baños, R. M., & Vázquez, C. (2026) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2026.102692 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
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Self-citationMobile Applications for Enhancing Emotional Wellness: A Systematic Review
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- Authors
- Kloos, N., Austin, J., van ‘t Klooster, J.-W., Drossaert, C., & Bohlmeijer, E.
- Affiliations
- La Trobe University (AU)
- University of Twente (NL)
- Corresponding author
- Bohlmeijer, Ernst
- Venue
- Journal of Happiness Studies
- Published
- 2022-10-06
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 4001-4025
- ISSN
- 1389-4978 (ISSN-L)
- 1573-7780
- PMC
- PMC9540053
- OpenAlex
- W4303185328
- Cited by
- 36
- References
- 74
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 5
- FWCI
- 6.61
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Happiness Studies (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- University of Twente Research Information (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- University of Twente Research Information (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- La Trobe University (cc-by)
- Funders
- Faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences of the University of Twente
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Keywords
- gratitude interventions, mobile mental health intervention, COVID-19 pandemic, psychological well-being, anxiety, depression, stress, positive reframing, rumination, dose-response relationship, user satisfaction, general population mental health
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