An interdisciplinary mental wellbeing intervention for increasing flourishing: two experimental studies

Abstract

Positive Psychology Interventions (PPIs) have been shown to improve mental health, but little is known about their impact on the quantifiable experience of flourishing. Two experimental studies investigated whether the proportion of participants flourishing, assessed using the Huppert and So conceptual framework, could be increased through a 10-week online interdisciplinary intervention that combined strategies from positive psychology and lifestyle medicine. In Study 1 (n = 421), flourishing was significantly increased (p < 0.001) in the intervention but not the control group and was sustained at 12 weeks post-intervention. Study 2 (n = 458) showed that the addition of human support to the online intervention did not further improve its effectiveness at increasing flourishing. These studies demonstrate that online interdisciplinary interventions that incorporate positive psychology and lifestyle medicine strategies can increase human flourishing, irrespective of the addition of human support.