Teaching well-being at scale: An intervention study

Abstract

Courses that teach evidence-based interventions to enhance well-being are a public health tool that could be used to improve mental health in the population. We compared the wellbeing of six cohorts of adult students before and after they completed one of two massive open online courses: The Science of Well-Being (N = 581; 441; 1,228) and a control course, Introduction to Psychology (N = 677; 480; 1,480). Baseline well-being levels were equivalent across all six samples. Students in both courses increased in their well-being from baseline to follow-up in all three samples (p < .001); however, at follow-up, students in The Science of Well-Being course had higher subjective well-being than the control course (sample 1: R = .18, d = .37, p < .001; sample 2: R = .21, d = .43, p < .001; sample 3: R = .19, d = .38, p < .001). Overall, across three samples, we found that students who completed either of these online psychology courses increased in their well-being-but that students in The Science of Well-Being course showed greater improvement. These findings suggest that large free online courses that teach evidence-based approaches to well-being could positively impact mental health at large scales.