‘The Three Good Things’ – The effects of gratitude practice on wellbeing: A randomised controlled trial

Abstract

BackgroundThere are mixed findings concerning the effectiveness of gratitude interventions. This study investigated a commonly used gratitude-based intervention (‘count–your–blessings’) in promoting physical and psychological wellbeing in a UK sample.MethodsA randomised controlled trial to examine the efficacy of a three–week gratitude intervention in promoting psychological and physical health. 108 healthy participants (aged 18–36) were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 conditions (gratitude or no–assigned activity). Those in the gratitude condition kept daily gratitude journals for 21 days. Participants completed self–report measures related to gratefulness, affect, prosociality, physical and subjective wellbeing. These measures were collected at two time–points (pre– and post–intervention), three weeks apart. Two separate analyses were conducted for participants who completed the intervention (Completer analysis) and including those who dropped out (Intention–to–treat analysis [ITT]).FindingsCompleter analysis revealed that the gratitude condition resulted in heightened feelings of gratefulness. Those in the grateful condition showed greater increases in state gratitude and positive affect, relative to the control condition, who reported a reduction in wellbeing. Overall, the ITT analysis yielded essentially the same findings as the completer analysis.DiscussionCounting one’s blessings can improve wellbeing and could be incorporated in existing psychotherapies. This brief and simple intervention warrants further investigation.