Positive Emotions Training (PoET) as an Online Intervention to Improve Mental Health: a Feasibility Study

Positive psychology interventions are known to have an impact on mental health as well as on a number of beneficial characteristics like optimism, gratitude and self-efficacy. The new developed Positive Emotions Training (PoET) is one of the first holistic training programs covering eleven positive psychology constructs. The goal of this study was to test PoET's feasibility in the general population and to assess possible effects on positive and negative mental health factors. Additionally, possible effects on optimism, gratitude, happiness, resilience, and self-efficacy were examined.

Hypotheses:

1. It was hypothesized that participants receiving PoET would show a significant increase in positive mental health factors one month after the second training day.
2. It was expected to find a significant decrease in depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms one month after the second training day.
3. It was hypothesized that participants in a control group would not show any significant changes in this regard.

Methods:

The sample (n = 101) was allocated to PoET (n = 55) or control (n = 46) which did not receive any treatment. The allocation was neither randomized nor matched. Participants in the PoET group completed a whole of two training sessions (3.5 hours each) that were conducted in an online format (via Zoom) with groups of about 30 people. These sessions included the following positive psychology constructs: happiness, hope, humour, optimism, gratitude, self-efficacy, flow, meaningfulness, forgiveness, spirituality, resilience.

All participants completed positive and negative mental health measures at the beginning of the first training session and at the beginning of the second one as well as 30 days after the second session. Additionally, they had to complete two short items regarding stress and mood after each training session. They were given an exercise booklet with descriptions and explanations for all exercises during the training and at home. The week between the two sessions was called "7-day-challenge" to motivate the participants to try out several exercises at home.

Data was collected pseudonymised via Socisurvey. Data analysis was conducted with RStudio. Two-factorial repeated measures ANOVAs were conducted to test for possible effects of PoET on mental health.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Mental Health; Positive Emotions
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: PoET

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 174
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Germany
  • North Rhine-Westphalia
    • Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, 44801
      • Ruhr-University Bochum

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• legal age (18)
• ability to use Zoom and all associated technology

Exclusion Criteria:

• none

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Non-Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: PoET Group; Participants received two sessions of PoET and filled out the questionnaires.	Behavioral: PoET; PoET consists of two online-sessions, each 3.5 hours within groups of 30 people. The following lessons regarding positive psychology constructs were conducted (including short information on each construct and specific exercises): happiness, hope, humour, optimism, gratitude, self-efficacy, flow, meaningfulness, forgiveness, spirituality and resilience.
No Intervention: Control Group; Participants only filled out the questionnaires.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Changes in Positive Mental Health Scale (3 assessment points)	9 items, 4-point-scale from 0 ("I do not agree ") to 3 ("I agree"), assessing emotional and psychological aspects of wellbeing, higher scores reflect better positive mental health	before 1st and 2nd training session, 30 days after 2nd training session
Changes in Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 21 (3 assessment points)	21 items, 4-point-scale from 0 ("did not apply to me at all") to 3 ("applied to me very much or most of the time"), assessing negative emotional states, higher scores reflect more symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress	before 1st and 2nd training session, 30 days after 2nd training session

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Changes in Life Orientation Test-revised (3 assessment points)	10 items, 5-point-scale from 0 ("strongly disagree") to 4 ("strongly agree"), assessing dispositional optimism, higher scores reflect higher dispositional optimism	before 1st and 2nd training session, 30 days after 2nd training session
Changes in Gratitude Questionnaire (3 assessment points)	5 items, 7-point-scale from 1 ("strongly disagree") to 7 ("strongly agree"), assessing gratitude, higher scores reflect a more pronounced sense of gratitude	before 1st and 2nd training session, 30 days after 2nd training session
Changes in Satisfaction With Life Scale (3 assessment points)	5 items, 7-point-scale from 1 ("strongly disagree") to 7 ("strongly agree"), assessing global subjective happiness, higher scores indicate a happier person	before 1st and 2nd training session, 30 days after 2nd training session
Changes in New General Self-Efficacy Scale (3 assessment points)	8 items, 5-point-scale from 1 ("strongly disagree") to 5 ("strongly agree"), assessing how much participants believe in their own abilities, higher scores represent higher self-efficacy	before 1st and 2nd training session, 30 days after 2nd training session
Changes in Brief Resilience Scale (3 assessment points)	6 items, 5-point-scale from 1 ("strongly disagree") to 5 ("strongly agree"), assessing participants' ability to recover from stress despite significant adversity, higher scores reflect higher resilience	before 1st and 2nd training session, 30 days after 2nd training session

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Ruhr University of Bochum
• Investigators: Study Director: Christina Totzeck, Dr., Ruhr-University Bochum

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 18, 2022
• Primary Completion (Actual): June 20, 2022
• Study Completion (Actual): June 20, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 9, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 19, 2023
• First Posted (Estimate): February 21, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): February 21, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 19, 2023
• Last Verified: February 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: positive psychology; online intervention; positive emotions
• Other Study ID Numbers: PoET101

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No