Graduation Year
2024
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
John Ferron, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Evan Dart, Ph.D.
Keywords
complete mental health, dual factor model, mental health clinicians, positive psychology
Abstract
Traditionally, mental health was viewed as the absence of illness or disorders, but over time it has increasingly become viewed as also holding the presence of positive factors (Keyes, 2003; Ryff & Singer, 1998; Suldo & Shaffer, 2008). The switch from only focusing on negative factors to incorporating positive factors as well brought more traction to the growing field of positive psychology, defined as “the scientific study of positive experiences and positive individual traits, and the institutions that facilitate their development” (Duckworth, Steen, & Seligman, 2005, p. 630). Inclusion of both positive indicators of wellness combined with negative indicators of illness brought about the dual-factor model of mental health (Greenspoon & Saklofske, 2001). A social services organization in the southeastern U.S. that employs mental health clinicians who serve children, adolescents, and their families, created a positive psychology-based intervention called “Positive Psychology through Happiness” (PPH). The PPH was evaluated by researchers in the USF College of Education in a pilot study (2021-22) and subsequent randomized control trial (RCT; 2022-23) to inform the evidence-base for future use agency-wide. In the pilot, three participants who used the PPH regularly took part in exit interviews to describe their experiences. In addition to perceiving benefits for clients, clinicians reported feeling an increase in their own well-being, simply from using the positive psychology intervention with their clients and aspects of positive psychology in their own lives. The purpose of the current study was to examine intervention impact on clinician well-being more systematically among the clinicians who took part in the RCT addressing impact of PPH on youth client mental health outcomes. In the larger RCT, 89 clinicians consented and took baseline measure of complete mental health, using self-report indicators of complete mental health: subjective well-being (i.e., satisfaction with life, flourishing, positive and negative affect) and distress (i.e., perceived stress). After baseline, they were randomized to intervention group (n = 45); clinicians immediately trained in PPH and asked to use it with up to their next 10 youth clients) or control group (n = 44) continue business-as-usual interventions and techniques). Of those 89 clinicians, 44 also completed posttest measures of complete mental health (n = 19 in intervention group; n = 25 in control group). Results of a repeated measures ANOVA indicated that, among the intervention group, there was a significant increase in satisfaction with life over time (p = .005, d = .37), as well as small decreases in negative affect (p = .008, d = .25), and perceived stress (p = .04, d = .19). The gains in life satisfaction and decreases in negative affect and perceived stress mirror findings from the pilot suggesting improvements in clinician wellness. The other measures of wellness (PA and FS) did not change significantly over time. Analyses that included a control group did not yield any statistically significant interactions between group and time, suggesting the trends for improved mental health observed among the intervention group were not unique (i.e., associated with group assignment). Further analyses of the intervention group indicated that amount of use of the PPI in sessions (i.e., “exposure” to the PPI) did not have statistically significant association with change on any indicator of complete mental health. This study indicates that there might be possible benefits of using a positive psychology-based intervention with clients for mental health clinicians’ satisfaction with life, as well as decreases in negative affect and perceived stress. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.
Scholar Commons Citation
Coolman, Frances, "Learning and Using Positive Psychology as an Intervention for Clients: Examining Changes in Mental Health Clinician’s Complete Mental Health" (2024). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/10491
