Positive psychology psychoeducation makes a small impact on undergraduate student mental health: Further curriculum innovation and better well-being research needed

Abstract

Objectives

Courses on well-being are increasingly evaluated to see how they may promote mental health in college. We examined the impact of a course on students’ well-being, anxiety, and depression.

Methods

Subjects were undergraduates enrolled in the “Science of Happiness,” (SOH) (n = 105), and “Child and Adolescent Psychopathology,” (CAP) (n = 114). Well-being measures included the PERMA Profiler and Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) at the beginning and conclusion of the semester. The Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale − 21 items (DASS-21) measured psychopathology.

Results

There were significant improvements on the SWLS 1.28 (p = .038; d = .264) in SOH. There was no improvement for the PERMA Profiler in either group, and no differences between groups. There was no significant change on the DASS-21 for SOH subjects.

Conclusions

Undergraduate courses that deliver positive psychology psychoeducation have a small effect size even in non-randomized studies. Future curriculum innovation is needed and better research to validate positive psychology psychoeducation.

Keywords:

• Positive psychology
• undergraduate
• student
• mental health
• well-being

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of United States and received approval from the Institutional Review Board of NYU Langone Health.

Additional information

Funding

Funding was provided by the NYU Langone Health Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the Krame Center and Family.