IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jhappi/v24y2023i1d10.1007_s10902-022-00598-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Effectiveness of Positive Psychology Interventions for Promoting Well-being of Adults Experiencing Depression Compared to Other Active Psychological Treatments: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Wei Loong Lim

    (University of Oxford)

  • Stephanie Tierney

    (University of Oxford)

Abstract

This systematic review assesses if positive psychology interventions (PPI) are more effective than other active psychological interventions for increasing the well-being of depressed adults. A review of randomised trials that compared PPI to other active interventions was conducted. A systematic search was undertaken using PsycInfo, PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Scopus, CINAHL, two trial registries, and a manual search. The outcomes were happiness and depression. Ten studies, totalling 1341 participants, were included in the review. The small effect sizes for depression (Hedge’s g = 0.15) and happiness (Hedge’s g = 0.20) favoured PPI but were not significant, indicating no difference between PPI and other active interventions for the outcomes. Heterogeneity was high mainly due to differences in trial implementation. Risks of bias ranged from moderate to high. The results should be interpreted with caution because of the small number of included studies, high heterogeneity, and presence of bias. Protocol Registration Number PROSPERO CRD42019152513.

Suggested Citation

  • Wei Loong Lim & Stephanie Tierney, 2023. "The Effectiveness of Positive Psychology Interventions for Promoting Well-being of Adults Experiencing Depression Compared to Other Active Psychological Treatments: A Systematic Review and Meta-analys," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 249-273, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:24:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s10902-022-00598-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s10902-022-00598-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10902-022-00598-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10902-022-00598-z?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. Pitchada Sutipan & Ungsinun Intarakamhang & Ann Macaskill, 2017. "The Impact of Positive Psychological Interventions on Well-Being in Healthy Elderly People," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 269-291, February.
    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. Tom Hendriks & Marijke Schotanus-Dijkstra & Aabidien Hassankhan & Joop Jong & Ernst Bohlmeijer, 2020. "The Efficacy of Multi-component Positive Psychology Interventions: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 357-390, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. 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.
    2. Yuan Zheng & Jingyi Zhou & Xianglong Zeng & Mingyan Jiang & Tian P. S. Oei, 2022. "A New Second-Generation Mindfulness-Based Intervention Focusing on Well-Being: A Randomized Control Trial of Mindfulness-Based Positive Psychology," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(6), pages 2703-2724, August.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. Sarinda Taengnoi, 2014. "Economic man and social woman: Determinants of immigrants' life satisfaction," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 34(3), pages 1530-1549.
    6. 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.
    7. Carmem M. Cunha & Nathalie Dens & Georg D. Granic, 2023. "University Students’ Well-Being and Engagement in Activities in the Early Days of Covid-19," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 18(1), pages 279-303, February.
    8. Richard Douglass & Ryan Duffy, 2015. "Strengths Use and Life Satisfaction: A Moderated Mediation Approach," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 619-632, June.
    9. Joseph Lanfranchi & Mathieu Narcy, 2022. "How do prosocial motivation and performance‐related pay interact in the workplace context? Evidence from the non‐profit sector," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 75(3), pages 436-455, August.
    10. 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.
    11. Romualdas Malinauskas & Vilija Malinauskiene, 2022. "Meta-Analysis of Psychological Interventions for Reducing Stress, Anxiety, and Depression among University Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-17, July.
    12. Razvan-Alexandru CALIN, 2023. "About Kindness As A Character Trait. An Exploratory Study," Annals of the University of Craiova, Series Psychology, Pedagogy, Teacher Training Department, University of Craiova, vol. 45(2), pages 70-79, December.
    13. Tohar Dolev-Amit & Avinadav Rubin & Sigal Zilcha-Mano, 2021. "Is Awareness of Strengths Intervention Sufficient to Cultivate Wellbeing and Other Positive Outcomes?," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 645-666, February.
    14. Carmela A White & Bob Uttl & Mark D Holder, 2019. "Meta-analyses of positive psychology interventions: The effects are much smaller than previously reported," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(5), pages 1-48, May.
    15. Vasoontara Yiengprugsawan & Boonchai Somboonsook & Sam-ang Seubsman & Adrian Sleigh, 2012. "Happiness, Mental Health, and Socio-Demographic Associations Among a National Cohort of Thai Adults," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 13(6), pages 1019-1029, December.
    16. Miranda R. Chilver & Justine M. Gatt, 2022. "Six-Week Online Multi-component Positive Psychology Intervention Improves Subjective Wellbeing in Young Adults," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 1267-1288, March.
    17. Carmel Proctor & John Maltby & P. Linley, 2011. "Strengths Use as a Predictor of Well-Being and Health-Related Quality of Life," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 153-169, March.
    18. 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.
    19. Katie J. Shillington & Andrew M. Johnson & Tara Mantler & Shauna M. Burke & Jennifer D. Irwin, 2021. "Kindness as an Intervention for Student Social Interaction Anxiety, Resilience, Affect, and Mood: The KISS of Kindness Study II," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(8), pages 3631-3661, December.
    20. Raquel Lara & Mᵃ Luisa Vázquez & Adelaida Ogallar & Débora Godoy-Izquierdo, 2020. "Psychosocial Resources for Hedonic Balance, Life Satisfaction and Happiness in the Elderly: A Path Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-18, August.

    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:24:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1007_s10902-022-00598-z. 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.