Graduation Year

2026

Document Type

Ed. Specalist

Degree

*Ed.S.

Degree Name

Education Specialist (Ed.S.)

Degree Granting Department

Educational and Psychological Studies

Major Professor

Shannon Suldo, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Sarah Kiefer, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Robert Dedrick, Ph.D.

Keywords

Digital mental health, Happiness, Hope, School-based mental health, Single-Session Interventions

Abstract

Background: Although mental health problems are on the rise among youth, nearly 80% do not access treatment. Schools serve as key settings to address adolescent mental health and wellness needs given the substantial barriers that limit access to community-based mental health services. Despite this potential, schools often face implementation challenges. Therefore, scalable and accessible approaches are needed to meet the growing demand for adolescent mental health support. Single-Session Interventions (SSIs) represent a promising, cost-effective, and digital avenue for providing timely mental health support to youth. Increasingly, research conceptualizes mental health through a two-dimensional framework that includes the presence of well-being and the absence of psychopathology. However, few existing SSIs explicitly target or integrate well-being components.

Methods: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the implementation and primary outcomes of Project PositiveU, a newly developed positive psychology SSI based on Snyder’s Hope Theory designed to increase life satisfaction, dispositional hope, positive affect, and self-determination in school among high school students. Fifteen high school students were recruited through convenience sampling and completed the 30-minute intervention and measures at baseline, immediately post-intervention, 2-week, and 4-week follow-up.

Results: Repeated-measures ANOVAs indicated that participation in Project PositiveU was associated with significant improvements in several domains of student well-being, including overall life satisfaction, multidimensional life satisfaction, hope agency, and positive affect, alongside a significant decrease in negative affect. Regression analyses confirmed a significant rate of increase over time for life satisfaction and positive affect. No significant changes emerged for hope pathways or basic psychological needs in school. Participants rated the intervention favorably across implementation outcomes, including acceptability (M = 4.27/5), appropriateness (M = 4.45/5), and feasibility (M = 4.32/5). Qualitative findings indicated that students valued the intervention's interactivity, visual design, and brevity, and described meaningful takeaways related to goal setting and pathways thinking. While students viewed the intervention as largely feasible for school implementation, they identified structured time and student buy-in as potential barriers.

Conclusion: Together, these findings provide preliminary support for the feasibility, acceptability, and potential efficacy of brief, digital, hope-based interventions for improving student well-being. Future directions include rigorously evaluating the effectiveness in a Randomized Control Trial in a school setting. Project PositiveU has the potential to serve as a scalable and accessible solution for delivering evidence-based positive activities to youth.

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