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MLM results for the effect of intervention on relatedness need satisfaction, controlling for baseline relatedness need satis- faction, gender, age, school SES, and year.
Source publication
Interventions that identify and develop character strengths have been shown to benefit well-being, academic engagement and achievement. Strengths research within positive psychology has focused primarily on individual outcomes with less attention on group or relationships effects. This study (N = 193) examined the effect of a classroom-based streng...
Citations
... Yet, it is those with higher baseline levels of self-esteem and positive affect that reported the greatest benefits after writing down their strengths, suggesting the presence of moderators to this effect [70]. Other studies have suggested that relational experiences may shape the outcomes of talking about strengths [7,74], and we aimed to isolate the relational aspects from the character strengths in our study. ...
... High-quality listening did not reduce state anxiety as was hypothesized and previously observed [31,56,57], nor did high-quality listening increase levels of authenticity for either the speaker or the listener [2,44]. The topic served as useful in allowing us to isolate the relational effects of listening against the effects of character strengths in order to address this important question raised by previous researchers [7,74,75], but character strengths are already associated with increased authenticity and wellbeing [71,113,114]. Our study findings showed that relational factors (and namely, listening) did not account for these outcomes when competing against character strengths. ...
... Exploratory analyses further suggested that speakers' perception of being listened to linked well with their feelings of greater authenticity while discussing their character strengths, and this further mediated their intention to use those character strengths. Building on this and past work on strengths interventions [74], it may be worthwhile to consider the role of listening in supporting positive change in individuals. ...
Listening is understood to be a foundational element in practices that rely on effective conversations, but there is a gap in our understanding of what the effects of high-quality listening are on both the speaker and listener. This registered report addressed this gap by training one group of participants to listen well as speakers discuss their character strengths, allowing us to isolate the role relational listening plays in strengths-based conversations. Participants were paired and randomly assigned to a high-quality listening (experimental) or moderate-quality listening (comparison) condition manipulated through a validated video-based training. High-quality listening predicted a more constructive relational experience; specifically, positivity resonance. Intrapersonal experiences (perceived authenticity and state anxiety) were not affected. Those who engaged in high-quality listening expressed a behavioural intention to continue listening, but condition did not predict a behavioural intention for speakers to continue applying character strengths. This is the first evidence of positivity resonance as a shared outcome between both a speaker and listener when the listener conveys high-quality (as opposed to ‘everyday’) listening. These early findings merit further study with stronger listening manipulations to explore the potential role of listening within interpersonal communication, and inform the applied psychological sciences (counselling, psychotherapy, coaching, organizational, education).
... In over half (27/46) of the studies reviewed, positive interactions with peers and teachers were identified as significant contributing factors to student's overall well-being. Several studies demonstrated that positive perceptions of peer connectedness resulted in stronger overall well-being (Aldridge et al., 2016;Aldridge and McChesney, 2018;Bourke and MacDonald, 2018;Canning et al., 2017;Graham et al., 2016;Quinlan et al., 2015), and were shown to support the development of individual resilience and life satisfaction (Aldridge et al., 2016). Additionally, strong student-teacher relationships were found to enhance well-being by supporting growth and allowing students to engage with difficulties as well as enhancing school engagement (Averill, 2012b). ...
Well-being has been touted for many years as a critical factor in achieving positive outcomes for students in schools across Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, and globally. Despite extensive reporting of student well-being concerns, further research is needed to fully understand this complex construct. This paper presents a scoping review aimed at developing a comprehensive understanding of student well-being by examining key factors highlighted in the literature. Using the PRISMA-ScR approach, a search was conducted using Google Scholar to identify studies published between 2010 and 2023 that focus on student well-being in Australian and Aotearoa New Zealand school contexts. Additional relevant grey literature, including policy documents, contributed to this review. A total of 46 studies met the eligibility criteria for more detailed analysis. The review identified three primary themes influencing student well-being: the role of student voice, the impact of the physical environment (which we call perivallon), and the nature of student relationships with teachers, peers, and themselves. These factors were found to be interrelated, with relationships serving as both an independent influence and a mediating factor affecting the other dimensions. The literature review leads to a multi-dimensional complexity model of well-being. This model suggests potential mechanisms by which a small change to an external factor can have far reaching, and potentially unexpected, impacts on student well-being. The implications and limitations of such a model are discussed, and avenues for future research are suggested.
... They also found a negative association between ANS and positive affect (r = − 0.03), although this correlation was not significant. Similarly, Quinlan et al. (2015) found a significant positive correlation between ANS and negative affect (r = 0.07) among a sample of students in New Zealand. Overall, the magnitude of these correlation coefficients suggests weak relationships, meaning these results may be spurious and should be interpreted with caution. ...
Childhood and adolescence are pivotal developmental stages for psychological health. An understanding of psychological mechanisms related to well-being is important for promoting positive life outcomes for youth. Research generally shows that the basic psychological need for autonomy is significantly associated with well-being. To examine the magnitude and sources of variation in this relationship, we conducted a meta-analysis of 90 reports to analyze the average effect of autonomy need satisfaction (ANS) and frustration (ANF) on indicators of psychological well- and ill-being for K-12 (Kindergarten to 12th grade) youth. Results indicated that ANS was positively associated with psychological well-being and negatively associated with psychological ill-being among youth. Further, ANF was negatively associated with psychological well-being and positively associated with psychological ill-being. Moderator analyses indicated that the association between ANS and well-being was stronger for studies conducted with children and adolescents in East Asian countries compared to studies conducted in the USA, Canada, or Northern Europe when controlling for publication status and measurement reliability. Results also showed that the average correlation between ANS and well-being was stronger for studies located in more collectivistic countries compared to individualistic countries when controlling for publication status and measurement reliability. The relationship between ANS and ill-being was stronger for studies conducted in the USA and Canada compared to East Asian and European contexts. Together, results suggest that autonomy satisfaction is related to the well- and ill-being of youth across cultural contexts, but that there is cultural variation in the association between experiences of autonomy and well-being.
... esim. Quinlan, Swain, Cameron & Vella-Brodrick 2015). Näissä aktiviteeteissa oppilas kääntää ajatuksensa itsestä toisiin ihmisiin ja kiitollisuutensa kohteisiin, eli hyvinvointia ei tarkastella vain yksilökeskeisestä näkökulmasta. ...
Mobbning kan leda till långsiktiga negativa konsekvenser för mobbade elever. Sådana konsekvenser är skolundvikande och skolfrånvaro. Syftet med denna systematiska litteraturöversikt är att utforska sambandet mellan mobbning och skol-undvikande respektive skolfrånvaro i longitudinella studier. Litteratur-sökningarna genomfördes i PsycInfo och ERIC, och tio artiklar inkluderades i studien. Av dessa behandlade fyra sambandet mellan mobbning och skolundvikande och sex sambandet mellan mobbning och skolfrånvaro. Enligt resultaten ökade mobbning skolundvikande över tid och mobbning kunde leda till skolfrånvaro upp till två år efter att mobbningen börjat. Sambandet mellan mobbning och skolfrånvarobeteenden medierades av lektions-aktivitet, våld samt psykiskt mående. Fler studier behövs för att få insyn i mobbningens effekt på skolfrånvarobeteenden över tid. Denna översikt belyser vikten av att förebygga och ingripa vid mobbning och skolfrånvaro.
... Strengths-based interventions in the educational field are practices that leverage each student's distinct character strengths (Niemiec, 2019;Wagner & Ruch, 2023;White et al., 2023). By focusing on students' strengths rather than their weaknesses, these interventions offer teachers practical tools for fostering academic achievement, wellbeing, positive emotions, class cohesion, perceived social support or socio-emotional skills (Lavy, 2020;Linkins et al., 2014;Quinlan et al., 2014). ...
... Each session lasted 45 min per week over a period of 9 weeks, a duration chosen to align with similar interventions in previous studies (e.g. Quinlan et al., 2014). Prior to the intervention, teachers in the experimental group received 6 h of in-service training. ...
This study evaluates the Individual Strengths, Collective Power! program in fostering students' use of strengths vocabulary and improving classroom relationships in an inclusive education setting in Switzerland, where students with and without special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) attend school together. The study involved 179 students, ages 8 to 12, divided into an experimental group that received specific training and an active control group that had access to program resources, regardless of their SEND status. The study used the Strengths Use Scale (SUS) and the Gratitude Questionnaire to measure students' awareness of their strengths and gratitude. In addition, a sociometric measure, the Peer Acceptance Index (PAI), was developed to assess classroom dynamics. Results indicate that strengths-based interventions significantly expanded students' vocabulary of strengths and increased positive discourse, particularly among girls. Time and age were the main predictors of positive peer commentary, rather than the interventions themselves, which had no significant effect on PAI scores. The study suggests that strengths-based tools, even without guided use, can positively influence students' language about strengths, although they did not change classroom relationships within the 9-week period. Further research is recommended to explore the specific effects and mechanisms of strengths-based interventions in inclusive settings.
... Previous school-based PPIs for adolescents have aimed to cultivate hope, gratitude, serenity, resilience, and character strengths, among other skills [31,34,39]. Consistent with the broader PPI literature, school-based interventions that incorporate multiple components have demonstrated greater e cacy compared to those that solely focus on a single skill [31,40]. ...
Introduction:
This study tested the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of Coping and Emotional Development for Adolescents to Reduce Stress (CEDARS) a positive psychological intervention (PPI), tailored for adolescents and administered in a classroom setting, in boosting CEDARS skill use and emotional well-being.
Method:
Adolescents (N = 102, 45% female) aged 13-15, in four physical education classes at the same school were randomly assigned by classroom to either receive the CEDARS intervention (n = 59) or engage in the usual class activities (n = 44). Participants completed self-report measures at three time points assessing use of intervention skills, positive and negative affect, depressive symptoms, and perceived stress.
Results and Conclusion:
Groups differed significantly on race with 57% of the intervention group compared to 75% of the control group identifying as Asian or Pacific Islander. Race-adjusted analyses revealed that both groups improved on intervention skill use, negative affect, depressive symptoms, and perceived stress. The group by time interaction was significant such that the CEDARS group increased skill use from pre- to post- intervention and this difference persisted at follow-up. Contrary to hypotheses, there were also significant group by time interactions indicating that the control group had a steeper decline in depression and perceived stress from pre- to post-intervention. Students reported high acceptability and feasibility and suggested key changes to increase engagement. The current study expands on the existing PPI literature focused on adolescents and highlights the need for larger and more diverse samples, as well as developmentally- and culturally-tailored interventions.
... Specifically, increased levels of participants' well-being were reported from the "Strengths Gym" program, which was applied in the context of school lessons to students of two schools in United Kingdom, aged 12-14 years. The intervention included six sessions exclusively dedicated to psychoeducational exercises for the recognition and use of character strengths (Quinlan et al., 2015). Another intervention was the six-session "Awesome Us," which was also applied in the classroom context, to students aged 9-12 years. ...
... Regarding the special features of the program, the duration of six weekly meetings was determined based on the need for a comprehensive intervention program (Quinlan et al., 2015). It was based on the findings of Seligman et al. (2005), according to which a training period longer than four weeks is more effective, as it allows participants to familiarize themselves with the exercises. ...
... Thus, the present study adds useful data on the importance of enhancing students' well-being, as the literature has highlighted the significance of such interventions in young people aged 18 to 25, who are faced with various developmental changes and special demands (Arnett, 2010). Moreover, the present findings agree with other programs that have been applied to both school (Proctor et al., 2011;Quinlan et al., 2015) and university students (Forest et al., 2012;Koydemir & Sun-Selışık, 2016), the results of which showed that participants reported increased levels of well-being after the end of the program. ...
The purpose of this study was the pilot implementation and investigation of the effectiveness of an internet-delivered group counselling intervention called "What is your superpower?", which aimed to enhance career calling, well-being, and character strengths among young adults. Twenty-five Greek undergraduate university students participated in the study and were divided into two groups. The experimental group attended the six-week program, while the control group did not participate in any intervention. All participants completed self-report measures before and after the intervention, while the experimental group completed the questionnaires also a month later. The results showed that the intervention group reported increased levels of career calling, well-being, and character strengths in the measurements after the program. The increased levels were maintained up to one month later, unlike the control group that had no significant difference in any of the variables of the study. Further research is required to confirm these findings.
... They have also demonstrated a diverse range of benefits to students in terms of both well-being and learning (Shankland and Rosset, 2017). A limitation of the majority of brief PPIs, however, is that they can focus on a single concept from PP, such as gratitude (Froh et al., 2010), character strengths (Quinlan et al., 2015), or mindfulness (Sapthiang et al., 2019). ...
Multi-component Positive Psychology Interventions (mPPIs) in secondary schools have been shown to improve mental health outcomes for young people. The Hummingbird Project mPPI is a six-week program of workshops designed to introduce a variety of positive psychology (PP) concepts to secondary school-aged children in schools to improve well-being, resilience, and hope. The effects on mental distress, however, were not explored. The current study, therefore, was designed to replicate the effects of the Hummingbird Project mPPI on positive mental health and to also explore the effects on symptoms of mental distress. Secondary school-aged children (N = 614; mean age = 11.46 years) from a sample of secondary schools located across the North West of England (N = 7) participated in the study; the majority of children were in Year 7 (94%). The PP concepts explored included happiness, hope, resilience, mindfulness, character strengths, growth mindset, and gratitude. The results showed significant improvements associated with the mPPI in well-being (as measured by the World Health Organization Well-Being Index; WHO-5), hope (as measured by the Children’s Hope Scale; CHS), and symptoms of mental distress (as measured by the Young Person’s Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation; YP-CORE) from pre- to post-intervention. While acknowledging the limits due to pragmatic concerns regarding the implementation of a control group, the effectiveness of the Hummingbird Project mPPI on well-being was replicated alongside reducing the symptoms of mental distress. Future evaluation, however, will need to implement more robust designs and consider follow-up duration to assess the longer-term effects of the Hummingbird Project mPPI.
... For example, Strengths Gym (Proctor et al., 2011) is a 12-week program in which youth are introduced to each of the strengths and participate in an exercise of their choice to enhance it. The Awesome Us strengths program (Quinlan et al., 2015) focuses on identifying strengths in self and others, an exercise referred to as "strengths-spotting" in the character strength literature, and encouraging their more effective use. Other programs have trained teachers to use character strengths concepts in the classroom and advising, or have focused on the school environment in general (e.g., Ho et al., 2017;White & Waters, 2015). ...
... Research has shown the various ways in which the application of students' strengths can assist their learning (Proyer et al., 2015;Quinlan et al., 2012;Shoshani & Slone, 2013;Stebleton et al., 2012), including improved student achievement and well-being (Seligman et al., 2009). However, the application of Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy,203,[91][92][93][94][95][96][97][98][99][100][101] Dockrill Garrett strength-based practices within inclusionary school and classroom settings has been inconsistent due to a lack of clarity regarding the specific processes, strategies, and activities that can be used to promote the initial awareness and subsequent development of strengths in students (Biswas-Diener et al., 2011;Quinlan et al., 2015). The findings from this study identified the crucial role that school leaders play in developing a school's culture and adopting a school vision with practices that align themselves with the strength-based perspective. ...
p>Elements of strength-based pedagogy are evident in current practices being implemented in Canadian schools as well as internationally. Classroom teachers appreciate the importance of creating a positive learning environment for students where the latter feel a sense of belonging, choice, and self-efficacy toward their learning (Deci & Ryan, 2008; Rickabaugh, 2016). While many educators apply such practices at the classroom level, strength-focused pedagogies can be organized through the conceptualization of a unifying framework. Building on research which proposed a dual-dimensional approach to student support services, this article explores the role of school leadership in shifting a school’s culture toward one that values, identifies, and leverages the strengths of students and educators to promote flourishing within their schools. Employing an Appreciative Inquiry action research design (Cooperrider et al., 2000; Stowell, 2012) to engage research participants, this study used Keyes’ (2002) dual-dimensional model as a lens through which to investigate the application of strength-based concepts and practices within school and classroom settings.
An Appreciative Inquiry (AI) Action Research Design (Stowell, 2012; Cooperrider et al., 2000) was used to engage research participants, using Keyes’ dual-dimensional model (Keyes, 2002) as a lens through which to investigate the use of strength-based concepts and practices within school and classroom settings.</p
