Background

Identity differences due to gender, ethnicity, class or other demographic qualities can prevent youth from engaging in social emotional learning (SEL) interventions if the practice experiences lack psychological safety. Gratitude is a particularly powerful practice that is both universally valued and shown to improve behavior, relationships, and wellbeing. However, the design and implementation of gratitude interventions in schools seldom provide such equitable access for all students and this may be a reason for their failure to impact mental health. 

Aims

Here we present an equitable technology-based gratitude intervention that genuinely engages students in personal and interpersonal gratitude practices and that demonstrates improved effectiveness over school interventions done so far (Bono et al., 2020). The aims of this study are to present the impacts of this intervention and illustrate why psychological safety and person-activity fit in gratitude practices are critical design features.    

Method

This study used a quasi-experimental design conducted at 2 high schools in Oakland, CA (USA) whereby classrooms were randomly assigned to an intervention versus a control condition for 6 weeks. The intervention used a psychoeducational curriculum (called “Thanks! A Strengths-Based Curriculum for Tweens and Teens”) together with a web-app for thanking and grateful journaling (called “GiveThx”), whereas the control classes did the usual curriculum without additional curriculum or app.

Results

The intervention produced improvements in mental health and wellbeing indicators compared to the control group - specifically decreases in anxiety, depression and perceived stress and improvements in mood, life satisfaction and friendship satisfaction. Further, a common feature evident in the thanks notes exchanged by intervention students was that the interpersonal practices were psychologically safe.  

Conclusion

We suggest strategies that teachers can use for effectively promoting gratitude in the classroom. A critical feature is allowing students to harness social support naturally for real-life challenges and achievements during the school day. We conclude with the implications of such gratitude-based SEL practices for student achievement and school climate more broadly.