Better Days – A randomized controlled trial of an internet-based positive psychology intervention

Abstract

The internet seems promising for delivering interventions to enhance well-being in a normal population. The aim of this study was to test the effects of an internet-based positive psychology intervention targeting gratitude, pleasant activities, strengths, mastery, acts of kindness, optimism, flow, attributions, and mindfulness. One-hundred and twelve participants were randomized to the intervention and 94 to the control group, and data were collected at baseline, one, two, and six months after intervention onset. The balance of positive to negative affect increased over time among participants in the intervention group (unstandardized beta coefficient [B] = 0.07, p < 0.01), as compared to the controls (B = 0.02, p = 010). The intervention worked equally well regardless of participants’ gender, age, or education. However, optimism did not mediate the effect of the intervention on affect balance. In conclusion, the intervention had a small, but significant effect on affect balance among healthy adults.

Keywords:

• randomized controlled trial
• multilevel modeling
• positive psychology
• affect balance
• optimism
• well-being
• internet

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Prof. Pål Kraft for input on the study design and James Roe for proofreading the manuscript.

Funding

This research was funded by the Research Council of Norway [Project no. 187979].