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A Positive Psychology Resource for Students? Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the 6 Minutes Diary in a Randomized Control Trial

This study investigated the effects of the 6 Minutes Journal (6MT), a commercial diary combining several positive psychology interventions, including gratitude, goal-setting, and self-affirmation exercises, on several mental health outcome measures. In a randomized controlled trial, university stude...

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Autores principales: Lorenz, Timo, Algner, Mona, Binder, Benjamin
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9195423/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35712162
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.896741
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author Lorenz, Timo
Algner, Mona
Binder, Benjamin
author_facet Lorenz, Timo
Algner, Mona
Binder, Benjamin
author_sort Lorenz, Timo
collection PubMed
description This study investigated the effects of the 6 Minutes Journal (6MT), a commercial diary combining several positive psychology interventions, including gratitude, goal-setting, and self-affirmation exercises, on several mental health outcome measures. In a randomized controlled trial, university students (N = 157) were randomly assigned to one of two groups: 6MT (n = 77) and a wait list control group (n = 80). Participants in the intervention group were instructed to follow the instructions of the 6MT for 4 weeks. Participants in both groups completed measures of perceived stress, positive and negative affect, self-efficacy and resilience at baseline, after 2 (t1), and 4 (t2) weeks. We used path-analyses with autoregressive and cross-lagged effects to test our hypotheses of the effects of the 6MT. Participants in the intervention group reported decreased levels of perceived stress and negative affect, as well as increased levels of resilience and self-efficacy compared to the control group. Positive affect was not statistically significantly influenced. The data showed a statistically significant increased levels of self-efficacy and resilience only after 4 weeks, suggesting that changing these constructs needs more time. The 6-minute diary does not appear to make individuals fundamentally more positive. However, the intervention may have a protective function against negative influences on well-being.
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spelling pubmed-91954232022-06-15 A Positive Psychology Resource for Students? Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the 6 Minutes Diary in a Randomized Control Trial Lorenz, Timo Algner, Mona Binder, Benjamin Front Psychol Psychology This study investigated the effects of the 6 Minutes Journal (6MT), a commercial diary combining several positive psychology interventions, including gratitude, goal-setting, and self-affirmation exercises, on several mental health outcome measures. In a randomized controlled trial, university students (N = 157) were randomly assigned to one of two groups: 6MT (n = 77) and a wait list control group (n = 80). Participants in the intervention group were instructed to follow the instructions of the 6MT for 4 weeks. Participants in both groups completed measures of perceived stress, positive and negative affect, self-efficacy and resilience at baseline, after 2 (t1), and 4 (t2) weeks. We used path-analyses with autoregressive and cross-lagged effects to test our hypotheses of the effects of the 6MT. Participants in the intervention group reported decreased levels of perceived stress and negative affect, as well as increased levels of resilience and self-efficacy compared to the control group. Positive affect was not statistically significantly influenced. The data showed a statistically significant increased levels of self-efficacy and resilience only after 4 weeks, suggesting that changing these constructs needs more time. The 6-minute diary does not appear to make individuals fundamentally more positive. However, the intervention may have a protective function against negative influences on well-being. Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-05-31 /pmc/articles/PMC9195423/ /pubmed/35712162 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.896741 Text en Copyright © 2022 Lorenz, Algner and Binder. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychology
Lorenz, Timo
Algner, Mona
Binder, Benjamin
A Positive Psychology Resource for Students? Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the 6 Minutes Diary in a Randomized Control Trial
title A Positive Psychology Resource for Students? Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the 6 Minutes Diary in a Randomized Control Trial
title_full A Positive Psychology Resource for Students? Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the 6 Minutes Diary in a Randomized Control Trial
title_fullStr A Positive Psychology Resource for Students? Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the 6 Minutes Diary in a Randomized Control Trial
title_full_unstemmed A Positive Psychology Resource for Students? Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the 6 Minutes Diary in a Randomized Control Trial
title_short A Positive Psychology Resource for Students? Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the 6 Minutes Diary in a Randomized Control Trial
title_sort positive psychology resource for students? evaluation of the effectiveness of the 6 minutes diary in a randomized control trial
topic Psychology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9195423/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35712162
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.896741
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