Cited by 645Psychological Well-being and Life SatisfactionPsychotherapy Techniques and ApplicationsMindfulness and Compassion Interventions

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·2021·The Journal of Positive Psychology

Abstract

A meta-analysis of positive psychology intervention (PPIs) studies was conducted. PPIs were defined as interventions in which the goal of wellbeing enhancement was achieved through pathways consistent with positive psychology theory. Data were extracted from 347 studies involving over 72,000 participants from clinical and non-clinical child and adult populations in 41 countries. The effect of PPIs with an average of ten sessions over six weeks offered in multiple formats and contexts was evaluated. At post-test, PPIs had a significant small to medium effect on wellbeing (g = 0.39), strengths (g = 0.46), QoL (g = 0.48), depression (g = −0.39), anxiety (g = −0.62), and stress (g = −0.58). Gains were maintained at three months follow-up. Individuals in non-western countries with clinical problems, who engaged in longer individual or group therapy programs containing multiple PPIs benefited most. This meta-analysis shows that PPIs have an extensive evidence base supporting their effectiveness.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1080/17439760.2020.1818807

Cites

59 of 59 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

This paper’s full text isn’t openly available, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Carr, A., Cullen, K., Keeney, C., Canning, C., Mooney, O., Chinseallaigh, E., & O’Dowd, A.
Affiliations
  • University College Dublin (IE)
  • School of Psychology, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Corresponding author
Carr, Alan
Venue
The Journal of Positive Psychology
Published
2020-09-10
Volume
16
Issue
6
Pages
749-769
ISSN
  • 1743-9760 (ISSN-L)
  • 1743-9779
OpenAlex
W3086982226
Cited by
645
References
59
Citations by year
2026: 109 · 2025: 148 · 2024: 138 · 2023: 125 · 2022: 92 · 2021: 32 · 2020: 1
FWCI
10.04
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
The Journal of Positive Psychology (publishedVersion)
Funders
ucd
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
Keywords
positive psychology interventions, strengths-based intervention, quality of life, depression, anxiety, stress, intervention effectiveness, follow-up maintenance, group therapy, clinical populations, non-Western countries

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review