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Abstract
Do positive psychology interventions-that is, treatment methods or intentional activities
aimed at cultivating positive feelings, positive behaviors, or positive cognitions-enhance
well-being and ameliorate depressive symptoms? A meta-analysis of 51 such interventions
with 4,266 individuals was conducted to address this question and to provide practical
guidance to clinicians. The results revealed that positive psychology interventions
do indeed significantly enhance well-being (mean r=.29) and decrease depressive symptoms
(mean r=.31). In addition, several factors were found to impact the effectiveness
of positive psychology interventions, including the depression status, self-selection,
and age of participants, as well as the format and duration of the interventions.
Accordingly, clinicians should be encouraged to incorporate positive psychology techniques
into their clinical work, particularly for treating clients who are depressed, relatively
older, or highly motivated to improve. Our findings also suggest that clinicians would
do well to deliver positive psychology interventions as individual (versus group)
therapy and for relatively longer periods of time.
(c) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.