Promoting Gratitude as a Resource for Sustainable Mental Health : Results of a 3-Armed Randomized Controlled Trial up to 6 Months Follow-up

The aim of the current study was to evaluate the impact of a 6-week gratitude intervention for people with low to moderate well-being and moderate symptomatology of depression and anxiety up to 6 months follow-up. 217 Dutch adults were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: a 6-week gratitude intervention, a 6-week self-kindness intervention as an active control condition and a waitlist control condition. Participants completed online assessments on well-being, depression, anxiety and gratitude at baseline, post-test, 6 weeks and 6 months follow-up.

 

Changes in outcome measures over time were examined using multilevel growth curve modeling in R to account for repeated measures nested within individuals. The gratitude intervention was more effective in improving mental well-being in comparison to the self-kindness intervention (d = .63 at post-intervention and d = .40 at 6 weeks follow-up) and waitlist control (d = .93 at post-intervention and d = .66 at 6 weeks follow-up). The data also demonstrated that the gratitude intervention was superior to waitlist control and practicing self-kindness on various measures of gratitude but not on distress.

 

The results of this study suggest that a 6-week gratitude intervention is an effective, low-intensity intervention for enhancing mental well-being but not distress among people with low to moderate levels of well-being and moderate distress, at least in higher-educated women. The sustained effects on various measures of gratitude up to 6 months follow-up suggest that it is possible to promote a lasting appreciative perspective on life.

Reference: 
Ernst T. Bohlmeijer, Jannis T. Kraiss, Philip Watkins & Marijke Schotanus-Dijkstra | 2020
In: Journal of Happiness Studies ; ISSN: 1573-7780
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-020-00261-5
Epub ahead of print DOI : 10.1007/s10902-020-00261-5
Keywords: 
Adults, Compassion, Depressive Disorders, Effects, Fear, Gratitude, Interventions, Mental health, Randomized Clinical Trial, Self Esteem