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Effectiveness of a Positive Psychology Exercise for Youth in Residential Treatment

Williams, Aubrey M.
http://orcid.org/0009-0009-5209-4823
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=xupsy1746661202071783

Abstract Details

2025, Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.), Xavier University, Psychology.
Late childhood and early adolescence are vulnerable developmental periods with regard to mental health with half of mental health disorders emerging by age 14 (Kessler, 2005). Positive psychology interventions have been found to benefit not only typically developing children but also children at-risk for or exhibiting psychological disorders (Owens & Waters, 2020). This study aimed to determine if a positive psychology intervention focused on gratitude (a gratitude journal) was associated with improvements in aspects of well-being among a youth clinical sample in a residential setting. Participants (n = 25) were youth between the ages of 10 and 15 (MAge = 12.76; 48% female) in a residential treatment center. Participants completed questionnaires measuring positive affect, negative affect, optimism, pessimism, and gratitude at three points (e.g., pretest, posttest, and follow-up). After pretest measures, participants completed a weeklong gratitude intervention in which they completed journal entries about what they were grateful for that day. There were no significant findings from the main analyses, suggesting that the gratitude intervention was not associated with improvements on measures of well-being. There were significant findings from the exploratory analyses suggesting that older participants demonstrated better long-term outcomes with regard to negative affect, while participants who completed more journal entries reported less improvement in gratitude at follow-up. There was a complex relationship between positive and negative affect across the study period. Future studies should further examine issues of developmental fit, delivery, and dosage of positive psychology interventions for youth in residential care.
Jennifer Gibson, Ph.D. (Advisor)
Tammy Sonnentag, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Kathleen Hart, Ph.D., ABPP (Committee Member)
56 p.
Clinical Psychology
positive psychology; intervention; residential treatment; children and adolescents; gratitude; well-being

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Williams, A. M. (2025). Effectiveness of a Positive Psychology Exercise for Youth in Residential Treatment [Doctoral dissertation, Xavier University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=xupsy1746661202071783

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Williams, Aubrey. Effectiveness of a Positive Psychology Exercise for Youth in Residential Treatment. 2025. Xavier University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=xupsy1746661202071783.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Williams, Aubrey. "Effectiveness of a Positive Psychology Exercise for Youth in Residential Treatment." Doctoral dissertation, Xavier University, 2025. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=xupsy1746661202071783

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

xupsy1746661202071783
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© 2025, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Xavier University Psychology and OhioLINK.
Release 3.2.12