Positive psychology interventions: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled studies

Linda Bolier,Filip Smit,Heleen Riper,Ernst Bohlmeijer,Merel Haverman,Gerben J Westerhof

doi:10.1186/1471-2458-13-119

Abstract

BackgroundThe use of positive psychological interventions may be considered as a complementary strategy in mental health promotion and treatment. The present article constitutes a meta-analytical study of the effectiveness of positive psychology interventions for the general public and for individuals with specific psychosocial problems.MethodsWe conducted a systematic literature search using PubMed, PsychInfo, the Cochrane register, and manual searches. Forty articles, describing 39 studies, totaling 6,139 participants, met the criteria for inclusion. The outcome measures used were subjective well-being, psychological well-being and depression. Positive psychology interventions included self-help interventions, group training and individual therapy.ResultsThe standardized mean difference was 0.34 for subjective well-being, 0.20 for psychological well-being and 0.23 for depression indicating small effects for positive psychology interventions. At follow-up from three to six months, effect sizes are small, but still significant for subjective well-being and psychological well-being, indicating that effects are fairly sustainable. Heterogeneity was rather high, due to the wide diversity of the studies included. Several variables moderated the impact on depression: Interventions were more effective if they were of longer duration, if recruitment was conducted via referral or hospital, if interventions were delivered to people with certain psychosocial problems and on an individual basis, and if the study design was of low quality. Moreover, indications for publication bias were found, and the quality of the studies varied considerably.ConclusionsThe results of this meta-analysis show that positive psychology interventions can be effective in the enhancement of subjective well-being and psychological well-being, as well as in helping to reduce depressive symptoms. Additional high-quality peer-reviewed studies in diverse (clinical) populations are needed to strengthen the evidence-base for positive psychology interventions.

Highlights

The use of positive psychological interventions may be considered as a complementary strategy in mental health promotion and treatment
Several variables moderated the impact on depression: Interventions were more effective if they were of longer duration, if recruitment was conducted via referral or hospital, if interventions were delivered to people with certain psychosocial problems and on an individual basis, and if the study design was of low quality
Indications for publication bias were found, and the quality of the studies varied considerably. The results of this meta-analysis show that positive psychology interventions can be effective in the enhancement of subjective well-being and psychological well-being, as well as in helping to reduce depressive symptoms

Summary

Introduction

The use of positive psychological interventions may be considered as a complementary strategy in mental health promotion and treatment. The present article constitutes a meta-analytical study of the effectiveness of positive psychology interventions for the general public and for individuals with specific psychosocial problems. Over the past few decades, many psychological treatments have been developed for common mental problems and disorders such as depression and anxiety. Preventive and early interventions, such as the Coping with Depression course [5], the Don’t Panic course [6] and Living Life to the Full. The existing evidence shows that the mental health care system has traditionally focused more on treatment of mental disorders than on prevention. It is recognized that mental health is more than just the absence of mental illness, as expressed in the World Health Organization’s definition of mental health: Mental health is a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community [9]

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