IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jhappi/v15y2014i1p19-42.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Increasing Middle School Students’ Life Satisfaction: Efficacy of a Positive Psychology Group Intervention

Author

Listed:
  • Shannon Suldo
  • Jessica Savage
  • Sterett Mercer

Abstract

This study identified middle school students who were less than delighted with their lives (reported life satisfaction scores between 1 and 6 on a 7-point scale), and attempted to improve these students’ mental health via a 10-week group wellness-promotion intervention developed from prior applications of positive psychology research. Complete data at baseline, post-intervention, and 6-month follow-up was gathered from 55 sixth grade students who were randomly assigned to the intervention condition (n = 28) or wait-list control (n = 27). Repeated measures analyses of a propensity score matched sample of 40 participants indicated a significant group by time interaction for global life satisfaction from baseline to post-intervention. Specifically, life satisfaction of students in the intervention group increased significantly, while the control group declined during the same period (although this change was not statistically significant). The intervention group’s gains were maintained at follow-up, but were matched by similar gains for students in the control group. No effects of intervention group were identified in the indicators of affect or psychopathology. The improvements in life satisfaction evidenced by students in the intervention group during the first semester of middle school are important given the adjustment difficulties that often appear during this sensitive developmental period marked by biological and educational changes. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Shannon Suldo & Jessica Savage & Sterett Mercer, 2014. "Increasing Middle School Students’ Life Satisfaction: Efficacy of a Positive Psychology Group Intervention," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 19-42, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:15:y:2014:i:1:p:19-42
    DOI: 10.1007/s10902-013-9414-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10902-013-9414-2
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10902-013-9414-2?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peter Greenspoon & Donald Saklofske, 2001. "Toward an Integration of Subjective Well-Being and Psychopathology," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 54(1), pages 81-108, April.
    2. Keiko Otake & Satoshi Shimai & Junko Tanaka-Matsumi & Kanako Otsui & Barbara Fredrickson, 2006. "Happy People Become Happier through Kindness: A Counting Kindnesses Intervention," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 7(3), pages 361-375, September.
    3. Julie Seligson & E. Huebner & Robert Valois, 2003. "Preliminary Validation of the Brief Multidimensional Students' Life Satisfaction Scale (BMSLSS)," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 61(2), pages 121-145, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ditzel, Loreto & Casas, Ferran & Torres-Vallejos, Javier & Reyes, Fernando & Alfaro, Jaime, 2022. "Children participating in after-school programs in Chile: Subjective well-being, satisfaction with free time use and satisfaction with the program," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    2. Lea E. Waters & Daniel Loton & Hayley K. Jach, 2019. "Does Strength-Based Parenting Predict Academic Achievement? The Mediating Effects of Perseverance and Engagement," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 1121-1140, April.
    3. Qian Nie & Zhaojun Teng & George G. Bear & Cheng Guo & Yanling Liu & Dajun Zhang, 2019. "Hope as Mediator Between Teacher–Student Relationships and Life Satisfaction Among Chinese Adolescents: A Between- and Within-Person Effects Analysis," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(7), pages 2367-2383, October.
    4. Shiri Lavy, 2020. "A Review of Character Strengths Interventions in Twenty-First-Century Schools: their Importance and How they can be Fostered," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 15(2), pages 573-596, April.
    5. Hayley K. Jach & Jessie Sun & Daniel Loton & Tan-Chyuan Chin & Lea E. Waters, 2018. "Strengths and Subjective Wellbeing in Adolescence: Strength-Based Parenting and the Moderating Effect of Mindset," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 19(2), pages 567-586, February.
    6. Jesus Alfonso D. Datu & Xunyi Lin, 2022. "The Mental Health Benefits of kind University Climate: Perception of Kindness at University Relates to Longitudinal Increases in Well-Being," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(3), pages 1663-1680, June.
    7. Belén López-Pérez & Antonio Zuffianò, 2021. "Children’s and Adolescents’ Happiness Conceptualizations at School and their Link with Autonomy, Competence, and Relatedness," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 1141-1163, March.
    8. Kaplan, Deanna M. & deBlois, Madeleine & Dominguez, Violeta & Walsh, Michele E., 2016. "Studying the teaching of kindness: A conceptual model for evaluating kindness education programs in schools," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 160-170.
    9. Kathlyn M. Cherry & Brae Anne McArthur & Margaret N. Lumley, 2020. "A Multi-Informant Study of Strengths, Positive Self-Schemas and Subjective Well-Being from Childhood to Adolescence," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(6), pages 2169-2191, August.
    10. Robert F. Valois & Jelani C. Kerr & Michael P. Carey & Larry K. Brown & Daniel Romer & Ralph J. DiClemente & Peter A. Vanable, 2020. "Neighborhood Stress and Life Satisfaction: Is there a Relationship for African American Adolescents?," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 15(1), pages 273-296, March.
    11. Lauren H. Naples & Elizabeth D. Tuckwiller, 2021. "Taking Students on a Strengths Safari: A Multidimensional Pilot Study of School-Based Wellbeing for Young Neurodiverse Children," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-27, June.
    12. L. Lambert & H.-A. Passmore & N. Scull & I. Al Sabah & R. Hussain, 2019. "Wellbeing Matters in Kuwait: The Alnowair’s Bareec Education Initiative," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 143(2), pages 741-763, June.
    13. Keith J. Zullig & Robert F. Valois & Gerald R. Hobbs & Jelani C. Kerr & Daniel Romer & Michael P. Carey & Larry K. Brown & Ralph J. DiClemente & Peter A. Vanable, 2020. "Can a Multilevel STI/HIV Prevention Strategy for High Risk African American Adolescents Improve Life Satisfaction?," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 417-436, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zi Jia Ng & Eugene Scott Huebner & Alberto Maydeu-Olivares & Kimberly Joy Hills, 2018. "Confirmatory Factor Analytic Structure and Measurement Invariance of the Brief Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale (BMSLSS) in a Longitudinal Sample of Adolescents," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 11(4), pages 1237-1247, August.
    2. E. Huebner, 2004. "Research on Assessment of Life Satisfaction of Children and Adolescents," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 66(1), pages 3-33, April.
    3. Selda Koydemir & Aslı Bugay Sökmez & Astrid Schütz, 2021. "A Meta-Analysis of the Effectiveness of Randomized Controlled Positive Psychological Interventions on Subjective and Psychological Well-Being," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 16(3), pages 1145-1185, June.
    4. E. Huebner & Julie Seligson & Robert Valois & Shannon Suldo, 2006. "A Review of the Brief Multidimensional Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 79(3), pages 477-484, December.
    5. Carmel Proctor & P. Linley & John Maltby, 2009. "Youth Life Satisfaction: A Review of the Literature," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 10(5), pages 583-630, October.
    6. Xu Jiang & Hanita Kosher & Asher Ben-Arieh & E. Huebner, 2014. "Children’s Rights, School Psychology, and Well-Being Assessments," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 117(1), pages 179-193, May.
    7. Eui Kyung Kim & Erin Dowdy & Michael M. Furlong & Sukkyung You, 2019. "Complete Mental Health Screening: Psychological Strengths and Life Satisfaction in Korean Students," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 12(3), pages 901-915, June.
    8. Holli-Anne Passmore & Ying Yang & Sarena Sabine, 2022. "An Extended Replication Study of the Well-Being Intervention, the Noticing Nature Intervention (NNI)," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(6), pages 2663-2683, August.
    9. Satish Kumar & Filomena Maggino & Raj V. Mahto & Riya Sureka & Leonardo Salvatore Alaimo & Weng Marc Lim, 2022. "Social Indicators Research: A Retrospective Using Bibliometric Analysis," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 162(1), pages 413-448, July.
    10. Jorge J. Varela & Javier Guzmán & Jaime Alfaro & Fernando Reyes, 2019. "Bullying, Cyberbullying, Student Life Satisfaction and the Community of Chilean Adolescents," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 14(3), pages 705-720, July.
    11. Valérie Benoit & Piera Gabola, 2021. "Effects of Positive Psychology Interventions on the Well-Being of Young Children: A Systematic Literature Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(22), pages 1-19, November.
    12. T. Gregory & E. Dal Grande & M. Brushe & D. Engelhardt & S. Luddy & M. Guhn & A. Gadermann & K.A. Schonert-Reichl & S. Brinkman, 2021. "Associations between School Readiness and Student Wellbeing: A Six-Year Follow Up Study," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 14(1), pages 369-390, February.
    13. Luisa Losada-Puente & Alexandra M. Araújo & Jesús Miguel Muñoz-Cantero, 2020. "A Systematic Review of the Assessment of Quality of Life in Adolescents," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 147(3), pages 1039-1057, February.
    14. Jacolyn Norrish & Dianne Vella-Brodrick, 2008. "Is the Study of Happiness a Worthy Scientific Pursuit?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 87(3), pages 393-407, July.
    15. Mònica González-Carrasco & Ferran Casas & Asher Ben-Arieh & Shazly Savahl & Habib Tiliouine, 2019. "Children’s Perspectives and Evaluations of Safety in Diverse Settings and Their Subjective Well-Being: A Multi-National Approach," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 14(2), pages 309-334, April.
    16. Xin, Sufei & Peng, Haiyun & Sheng, Liang, 2022. "Changes of social anxiety in Chinese adolescents during 2002 ∼ 2020: An increasing trend and its relationship with social change," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    17. Ferran Casas & Jorge Sarriera & Jaime Alfaro & Mònica González & Sara Malo & Irma Bertran & Cristina Figuer & Daniel Cruz & Lívia Bedin & Angela Paradiso & Karin Weinreich & Boris Valdenegro, 2012. "Testing the Personal Wellbeing Index on 12–16 Year-Old Adolescents in 3 Different Countries with 2 New Items," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 105(3), pages 461-482, February.
    18. Alcides Moreno Fortes & Lili Tian & E. Scott Huebner, 2020. "Occupational Stress and Employees Complete Mental Health: A Cross-Cultural Empirical Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-18, May.
    19. Sarinda Taengnoi, 2014. "Economic man and social woman: Determinants of immigrants' life satisfaction," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 34(3), pages 1530-1549.
    20. Dariusz Drążkowski & Radosław Trepanowski, 2022. "A Longitudinal Experimental Study Examining How and Whether Practicing Acts of Kindness Affects Materialism," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-12, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:15:y:2014:i:1:p:19-42. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.