Gratitude is one of the fundamental pillars of positive psychology. At a time where the world is facing a mental health epidemic, unlocking its potential is more important than ever. But, what does the research tell us about gratitude, mental health and young people? Some academics have found that gratitude is one of the most effective positive psychology interventions (Krakauer et al., 2017; Duthely, Nunn & Avela, 2017), while others dispute this, and have found only small positive overall effects on happiness and well-being, particularly in youth (Renshaw, Olinger & Stevens, 2016). Let’s take a look.
In 2005, Martin Seligman (the ‘grandfather’ of positive psychology) researched the impact of gratitude on mental health. He found that participants who engaged in ‘gratitude visits’, specifically writing a letter of thanks to a person in their life and hand-delivering that letter, reported significantly improved mental health. They experienced higher levels of satisfaction with emotional life, engagement and meaning in life, as well as lower levels of depression for up to a month (Seligman et al., 2005). Powerful, simple, evidence-based stuff.
However, when this same experiment was conducted in a school context, Froh and colleagues (2009) found no positive effects for gratitude. A deeper dive into the reasons for this found that while the majority of grade 3 students did deliver the letter to their parents, 100% of students in grades 8 and 12 did not. Not only did this confirm what many parents/carers and teachers know – teenagers don’t much like being told what to do – it also highlighted the challenges of implementing gratitude-based activities in school contexts.
Similarly, Seligman’s other experiment, dubbed ‘three good things’ – where participants write down three things that went well in their day and why for one week – showed measurable improvements lasting up to six months (Seligman et al., 2005). However, when this experiment was conducted with young people, researchers mostly found significant differences compared to those who journaled their hassles from the day before, not the control group (Froh, Sefick & Emmons, 2008).
How can the concept of gratitude that seems so effective in one context, not seem to translate to improving mental health for young people? Further investigation led to doctoral research conducted by Cripps (2019). Students were asked to write three good things that went well each day for two weeks. They measured the impact of this gratitude exercise on three outcomes against a control group: anxiety, sense of belonging and sleep; and found that students who participated in the ‘three good things’ exercise reported lower levels of anxiety and increased sense of belonging (unfortunately, no observable impact on sleep) (Cripps, 2019). This result strengthens Seligman’s evidence and shows it to be effective in young people as well.
So, what is most effective? And for whom? Ultimately, decades of gratitude research (sitting alongside thousands of years of spiritual tradition), shows that gratitude improves mental health and functioning (Jin & Wang, 2019; Marques et al., 2011; Duthely, Nunn & Avela, 2017; Froh, Bono & Emmons, 2010; Bono et al., 2020; Gulliford & Morgan, 2017). However, any one practice is like a piece of string – alone, it won’t hold much, but when woven together with other pieces of string, it becomes a sturdy rope. If you want to know how long a piece of string is, then ask yourself the question ‘how effective is a single gratitude intervention?’ If you want to thicken the rope, ask yourself: ‘how can we weave gratitude into everything we do in our school, well-being culture, and lives as possible?’
Some simple gratitude ideas:
- Start your lesson by having students share with the class or with the person next to them three things that went well in their day over the past 24 hours (a tonne of research shows that priming the brain to be in a positive state increases engagement and performance).
- Encourage ‘thank you’ letters from students to other students or staff who may have helped them. It could be recent or it could be as far back as they like – it’s never too late to express gratitude!
- Model the behaviour you want to see. When it comes to well-being, young people aren’t listening – they’re watching. The best way to instil these behaviours is to model them yourself. Who is that one student you can thank for something specific and genuine they’ve done recently?
- Have a ‘gratitude jar’ at the front of the room with post-it notes next to it. Encourage students to write down something they are grateful for on a note and drop it in the jar.
- Have a ‘thank you jar’ in the staff room with the same thing. Encourage staff to write down a note (either signed or anonymous) to another staff member when they think of something that person has done for them. Open the jar each month and read the notes out to the team.
References
1. Bono, G., Mangan, S., Fauteux, M. & Sender, J. (2020). A new approach to gratitude interventions in high schools that supports student wellbeing. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 15(5), 657-665
2. Duthely, L.M., Nunn, S.G. & Avella, J.T. (2017). A novel, heart-centred, gratitude meditation intervention to increase well-being among adolescents. Education Research International, 1-12.
3. Froh, J.J., Kashdan, T.B., Ozimkowski, K.M. & Miller, N. (2009). Who benefits the most from a gratitude intervention in children and adolescents? Examining positive affect as a moderator. The Journal of Positive Psychology. 4(5), 408-422.
4. Froh, J. J., Bono, G. & Emmons, R. (2010). Being grateful is beyond good manners: Gratitude and motivation to contribute to society among early adolescents. Motivation and Emotion, 34(2), 144–157.
5. Gulliford, L. & Morgan, B. (2017). The Routledge International Handbook of Critical Positive Psychology. Taylor & Francis Group.
6. Jin, G. & Wang, Y. (2019). The influence of gratitude on learning engagement among T adolescents: The multiple mediating effects of teachers’ emotional support and students’ basic psychological needs. Journal of Adolescence, 77, 21-31.
7. Marques, S., Pais-Ribeiro, J.J., & S. Lopez. (2011). The role of positive psychology constructs in predicting mental health and academic achievement in children and adolescents: A two-year longitudinal study. Journal of Happiness Studies, 12, 1049–1062.
8. Renshaw, T.L. & Olinger-Stevens, R.M. Psychology in the Schools, 53(3), 286-305.
9. Seligman, M. E. P., Steen, T. A., Park, N., & Peterson, C. (2005). Positive psychology progress: Empirical validation of interventions. The American Psychologist, 60, 410–421. https://doi. org/10.1037/0003-066X.60.5.410.