ABSTRACT

Adolescents face unprecedented wellbeing challenges, compared to previous generations, and many schools are underprepared to meet these needs. Social emotional learning (SEL) programs help, but could better support moral development. Here we propose a modern approach to gratitude interventions (GI) in schools that addresses critical limitations and provides preliminary results of effectiveness. The GI combines a psychoeducational top-down technique with a bottom-up social-media-app modality that supports the autonomous practice of interpersonal and general gratitude. Compared to students in waitlist/control classes, students in GI classes demonstrated improved outcomes in trait gratitude, mental health, and personal/social wellbeing after 6 weeks. Students’ use of the app also demonstrated more grateful personality behaviors and personal engagement. Lastly, we examined the importance of interpersonal gratitude in general and found that expressing thanks contributed to improvements in SEL competencies among waitlist/control students 6 weeks later. Implications for improving character/SEL programs through school GIs are discussed.

摘要

与前几代人相比，青少年面临着前所未有的健康挑战，许多学校对满足这些需求的准备不足。社会情感学习（SEL）计划可以提供帮助，但可以更好地支持道德发展。在这里，我们提出了一种在学校中进行感恩干预（GI）的现代方法，该方法可以解决关键局限性并提供有效的初步结果。GI将自上而下的心理教育技术与自下而上的社交媒体应用程序模式相结合，支持人与人之间的互助和普遍的感激之情。与等待清单/对照班的学生相比，地理标志班的学生在6周后表现出特质感，心理健康以及个人/社会幸福感方面的改善。学生对应用程序的使用还显示出更感恩的个性行为和个人参与度。最后，我们从总体上考察了人际交往的重要性，发现表达感谢表示对6周后候补/控制生的SEL能力有所提高。讨论了通过学校GI改进性格/ SEL计划的含义。