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Nostalgia, Gratitude, or Optimism: The Impact of a Two-Week Intervention on Well-Being During COVID-19.

ABSTRACT: Research indicates that brief 2-min positive psychology interventions (PPIs) increase well-being during COVID-19 lockdowns. The present study extended this to assess the effectiveness over two-weeks. Participants (n = 150) were randomly allocated to one of three PPIs; nostalgia, gratitude, best possible self (BPS), or control. The interventions were slightly adapted for the lockdown and were completed three times, every seven days over two-weeks. Well-being measures were completed immediately after the first intervention (T1), after the next two interventions (T2-T3) and at one-week follow-up (T4) (but no baseline measure of well-being was taken). At T1, participants in the nostalgia, gratitude, and BPS intervention had higher self-esteem than those in the control intervention. At T1 and T2, participants in the gratitude and BPS intervention reported higher social connectedness than participants in the nostalgia and control intervention. Then at follow-up (T4), participants in the nostalgia, gratitude, and BPS intervention had lower fear of COVID-19 than those in the control intervention. Overall, the results show the benefits of nostalgia, gratitude and optimism, compared to the control, during lockdown.

Supplementary information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10902-022-00513-6.

SUBMITTER: Dennis A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8934022 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Nostalgia, Gratitude, or Optimism: The Impact of a Two-Week Intervention on Well-Being During COVID-19.

Dennis Amelia A Ogden Jane J

Journal of happiness studies 20220319 6

Research indicates that brief 2-min positive psychology interventions (PPIs) increase well-being during COVID-19 lockdowns. The present study extended this to assess the effectiveness over two-weeks. Participants (<i>n</i> = 150) were randomly allocated to one of three PPIs; nostalgia, gratitude, best possible self (BPS), or control. The interventions were slightly adapted for the lockdown and were completed three times, every seven days over two-weeks. Well-being measures were completed immedia ...[more]

PMID: 35340567

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Emotional exhaustion (EE) in health care workers is common and consequentially linked to lower quality of care. Effective interventions to address EE are urgently needed. OBJECTIVE:This randomized single-exposure trial examined the efficacy of a gratitude letter-writing intervention for improving health care workers' well-being. METHODS:A total of 1575 health care workers were randomly assigned to one of two gratitude letter-writing prompts (self- vs other focused) to assess differential efficacy. Assessments of EE, subjective happiness, work-life balance, and tool engagement were collected at baseline and 1-week post intervention. Participants received their EE score at baseline and quartile benchmarking scores. Paired-samples t tests, independent t tests, and correlations explored the efficacy of the intervention. Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count software assessed the linguistic content of the gratitude letters and associations with well-being. RESULTS:Participants in both conditions showed significant improvements in EE, happiness, and work-life balance between the intervention and 1-week follow-up (P<.001). The self-focused (vs other) instruction conditions did not differentially predict improvement in any of the measures (P=.91). Tool engagement was high, and participants reporting higher motivation to improve their EE had higher EE at baseline (P<.001) and were more likely to improve EE a week later (P=.03). Linguistic analyses revealed that participants high on EE at baseline used more negative emotion words in their letters (P=.005). Reduction in EE at the 1-week follow-up was predicted at the level of a trend by using fewer first-person (P=.06) and positive emotion words (P=.09). No baseline differences were found between those who completed the follow-up assessment and those who did not (Ps>.05). CONCLUSIONS:This single-exposure gratitude letter-writing intervention appears to be a promising low-cost, brief, and meaningful tool to improve the well-being of health care workers.

Project description:BackgroundBreast cancer (BC) survivorship presents significant health disparities, particularly affecting Black women, who experience a 40% higher BC death rate compared to White women. These disparities are exacerbated by comorbidities, which contribute to poorer overall health outcomes. Additionally, Black BC survivors often face psychosocial challenges, including increased stress and lower well-being, which can lead to adverse physical health effects. This pilot study aims to assess the feasibility and efficacy of a culturally sensitive gratitude journaling intervention designed to enhance spiritual well-being, exercise self-efficacy, and reduce inflammation among Black BC survivors.MethodsThis pilot study employed a two-group, parallel random-assignment experimental design to compare a gratitude journaling intervention with a general memory journaling control group. Twenty-six Black women aged 40 to 70 years with a history of BC were randomly assigned to either the gratitude journaling intervention group (n = 13) or the control group (n = 13). The gratitude intervention group engaged in gratitude journaling twice weekly for eight weeks, while the control group documented daily memories. Outcomes measured included Gratitude Questionnaire-6, FACIT-Spiritual Well-Being 12 Item Scale, Perceived Stress Scale, Giscombe Superwoman Schema Questionnaire, and the Stage of Motivational Readiness for Physical Activity questionnaire and inflammatory biomarkers. Statistical analyses included the Wilcoxon rank sum test and Fisher's exact test.ResultsTwenty-six participants were enrolled, with 73% completing baseline and post-intervention assessments. The intervention group showed a significant improvement in spiritual well-being (p = 0.014) with a large effect size (ES = 0.57). Marginal improvements in exercise self-efficacy were also observed (ES = 0.39). Although there were no significant differences in dispositional gratitude and perceived stress between groups, the intervention group exhibited trends toward increased gratitude and reduced stress. Inflammatory biomarker analysis indicated non-significant changes, though IL-6 levels increased in the intervention group.ConclusionThis study demonstrates the feasibility and acceptability of a gratitude journaling intervention among Black BC survivors. The intervention significantly enhanced spiritual well-being and showed promise in improving exercise self-efficacy, suggesting its potential for promoting holistic wellness in this population. These findings provide a foundation for future larger-scale randomized controlled trials to further evaluate the efficacy of gratitude-based interventions for Black BC survivors.Trial registrationThis study was registered prospectively at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05473026) on 07-13-2022.

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Dataset Information

Nostalgia, Gratitude, or Optimism: The Impact of a Two-Week Intervention on Well-Being During COVID-19.

Supplementary information

Publications

Nostalgia, Gratitude, or Optimism: The Impact of a Two-Week Intervention on Well-Being During COVID-19.

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