What are children and young people’s views on and experiences of gratitude interventions?

Abstract

Numerous gratitude interventions have been created to harness the social and emotional benefits of gratitude. Some research has suggested gratitude interventions offer a promising approach for supporting children and young people’s wellbeing, but at this stage there remains a lack of consensus about their effectiveness for this population. As gratitude interventions have the advantage of being short and low-cost, they are potentially ideal for delivery within contexts such as schools. This could provide much needed mental health support for children and young people with emerging needs, perhaps reducing the need for later intervention. In this thesis, I sought to gain a deeper understanding of this topic through an exploration of children and young people’s views on and experiences of gratitude interventions. I carried out two research enquiries. In chapter 2, I describe a systematic review and thematic synthesis of eleven studies that explored gratitude interventions. Qualitative and mixed-method papers that explored the views or experiences of children and young people aged 10-25 were eligible for inclusion. I inferred gratitude interventions to be supportive to participants’ wellbeing, facilitated by cognitive (e.g., increased focus on positive aspects of life) and social processes (e.g., improved relationships). Participants’ responses were also interpreted to suggest that offering flexibility (e.g., choice over what type of intervention they engaged with) may be helpful for future intervention studies. The meaning and value participants attached to gratitude was also explored. In chapter 3, I describe an empirical study which explored primary-aged children’s experiences of completing a daily gratitude diary intervention. Ten primary-aged children from a UK school were interviewed and asked about their understanding of gratitude, what they felt grateful for and their experiences of the intervention. Interview data was analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Overall, it was interpreted that the gratitude diary was helpful for this group of children, supporting them to increase their awareness of good things in life and reduce focus on negative thoughts. Gratitude was important to the group of children, which appeared to be influenced by messages the children received from significant adults (e.g., teachers or parents). Expressing gratitude out loud and/or in writing was also inferred to be an unusual experience for participants but providing the opportunity to do this through the intervention appeared to be welcomed by the children. The main critique of the gratitude diary related to the repetitiveness of the process. Implications, strengths and limitations of both research enquiries are discussed with suggestions offered for moving research and practice forward.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Rosalind Keefe: orcid.org/0009-0004-3733-1994

ORCID for Catherine Brignell: orcid.org/0000-0001-7768-6272

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