The DOI matches its Crossref record; 38 of the 38 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Assessing the efficacy and effectiveness of a Positive Psychology-based self-help book
Open accessAbstract
The current article discusses the potential utility of self-help books as a means of disseminating positive psychological interventions, and presents data comparing a positive psychology-based self-help book with a cognitive-behavioral self-help book and a self-monitoring control condition.We studied college freshmen (N=58), and argue that this population is a particularly appropriate target for well-being intervention.Outcome measures included both indices of efficacy (depressive symptoms and life satisfaction) and effectiveness (e.g. the extent to which participants found their assigned activities to be meaningful).The two book groups outperformed the control and were equivalently efficacious at reducing depressive symptoms; on life satisfaction, positive self-help outperformed cognitive-behavioral, but only at 6-month follow-up.Positive self-help was also superior to cognitive-behavioral self-help on indices of effectiveness.Possibilities for future directions are discussed, with an emphasis on the realities of practical dissemination to both college students, and to the general public.Key words.self-help books
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Digital tools have proven efficient for different psychological issues outside any pandemic situation.
“The use of such digital tools has already been investigated for different psychological issues, outside any pandemic situation, and has proven efficient (e.g., [67,68]).”
From At the Peak of the Second Wave of COVID-19, Did Millennials Show Different Emotional Responses from Older Adults? (2022) · cites this paper as [68]
The Abstract (pp. 141–149) reports that two self-help book groups reduced depressive symptoms compared with a control group. The discussion mentions web- and smartphone-based programs as having potential, but does not establish that digital tools proved effective; it also says use of a web component was very low. (LLM, conf=0.84)
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Metadata
- Authors
- Parks, A. C., & Szanto, R. K.
- Affiliations
- Hiram College (US)
- ORCID
- Parks, Acacia C
- Venue
- Terapia psicológica
- Published
- 2013-04
- Volume
- 31
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 141-149
- ISSN
- 0716-6184 (ISSN-L)
- 0718-4808
- OpenAlex
- W2081706188
- Cited by
- 35
- References
- 38
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 3 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 2 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 3
- FWCI
- 8.99
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by-nc
- Locations
- Terapia psicológica (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Redalyc (Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Keywords
- positive psychology interventions, self-help books, intervention dissemination, university students, depressive symptoms, life satisfaction, well-being interventions, efficacy and effectiveness
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