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Year: 2014

Positive psychology interventions in people aged 50–79 years: long-term effects of

placebo-controlled online interventions on well-being and depression

Proyer, Rene T ; Gander, Fabian ; Wellenzohn, Sara ; Ruch, Willibald

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2014.899978

Posted at the Zurich Open Repository and Archive, University of Zurich

ZORA URL: https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-95174
Journal Article
Accepted Version

Originally published at:

Proyer, Rene T; Gander, Fabian; Wellenzohn, Sara; Ruch, Willibald (2014). Positive psychology interventions in
people aged 50–79 years: long-term effects of placebo-controlled online interventions on well-being and depres-
sion. Aging Mental Health, 18(8):997-1005.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2014.899978
 1

Running Head: POSITIVE INTERVENTIONS IN PEOPLE AGED 50-79 YEARS

Proyer, Rene T; Gander, Fabian; Wellenzohn, Sara; Ruch, Willibald (2014). Positive
psychology interventions in people aged 50–79 years: long-term effects of placebo-controlled
online interventions on well-being and depression. Aging & Mental Health, 18(8):997-1005.

Positive Psychology Interventions in People Aged 50-79 Years:

Long-Term Effects of Placebo-Controlled Online-Interventions on Well-Being and

Depression

René T. Proyer
University of Zurich, Department of Psychology
Binzmühlestrasse 14 Box 7, 8050 Zurich, Switzerland
Tel.: +41 44 635 75 25, e-mail: r.proyer@psychologie.uzh.ch

Fabian Gander
University of Zurich, Department of Psychology
Binzmühlestrasse 14 Box 7, 8050 Zurich, Switzerland
Tel.: +41 44 635 75 25, e-mail: f.gander@psychologie.uzh.ch

Sara Wellenzohn
University of Zurich, Department of Psychology
Binzmühlestrasse 14 Box 7, 8050 Zurich, Switzerland
Tel.: +41 44 635 75 25, e-mail: s.wellenzohn@psychologie.uzh.ch

Willibald Ruch
University of Zurich, Department of Psychology
Binzmühlestrasse 14 Box 7, 8050 Zurich, Switzerland
Tel.: +41 44 635 75 20, e-mail: w.ruch@psychologie.uzh.ch

This work was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation under Grant

100014_132512 awarded to RTP and WR.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Dr. René T.

Proyer, Department of Psychology, Division of Personality and Assessment, University

of Zurich, Binzmühlestrasse 14/7, 8050 Zurich, Switzerland, Tel: +41 (0)44 635 75 24

Fax: +41 (0)44 635 75 29 Email: r.proyer@psychologie.uzh.ch

POSITIVE INTERVENTIONS IN PEOPLE AGED 50-79 YEARS 2

Abstract

Positive Psychology Interventions in People Aged 50-79 Years: Long-Term Effects of

Placebo-Controlled Online-Interventions on Well-Being and Depression

Aging & Mental Health

Objectives. Various positive psychology interventions have been experimentally tested,

but only few studies addressed the effects of such activities in participants aged fifty and

above.

Method. We tested the impact of four self-administered positive psychology

interventions in an online setting (i.e., gratitude visit, three good things, three funny

things, and using signature strengths in a new way) on happiness and depressive

symptoms in comparison with a placebo control exercise (i.e., early memories). A total of

163 females aged 50 to 79 tried the assigned interventions or the placebo control exercise

for one week and completed measures on happiness and depressive symptoms at five

times (pre- and posttest, 1, 3, and 6 months).

Results. Two out of the four interventions (i.e., three good things, and using signature

strengths in a new way) increased happiness, whereas two interventions (three funny

things and using signature strengths in a new way) led to a reduction of depressive

symptoms on at at one post measure.

Conclusion. Positive psychology interventions yield similar results for people aged 50

and above as for younger people. The dissemination of such interventions via the Internet

offers a valuable opportunity for older age groups as well.

Keywords: Depression; Older Adults; Happiness; Positive Interventions; Well-

being.
POSITIVE INTERVENTIONS IN PEOPLE AGED 50-79 YEARS 3

Positive Psychology Interventions in People Aged 50-79 Years:

Long-Term Effects of Placebo-Controlled Online-Interventions on Well-Being and

Depression

Positive psychology is an umbrella term for research and practice on the

conditions and traits that make the life most worth living (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi,

2000). Over the past decades, research in psychology has mainly focused on negative

aspects of the human condition (e.g., studying depression rather than joy, or anxiety

rather than courage); fields such as personal growth, subjective or psychological well-

being, or flourishing (Seligman, 2011) have been comparatively less frequently studied

(Myers, 2000). Of course, there were earlier works that provided ground for this new

direction. For example, Marie Jahoda (1958) published a report to the Joint Commission

on Mental Illness and Health entitled ‘Current concepts of positive mental health.’ There

she reviewed literature on mental health and identified various criteria for positive mental

health (e.g., attitudes of an individual towards his own self, growth, development, or self-

actualization, autonomy etc.). One of the most central statements in her book regards the

notion that ‘[…] the absence of disease may constitute a necessary, but not a sufficient,

criterion for mental health’ (p. 15; see also Keyes, 2007).

The question arises on how mental health, or the ‘good life’ from a positive

psychology perspective can be achieved—and what individual contributions may be.

Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, and Schkade (2005) argue that there are three major contributors

to happiness; i.e., (a) a genetically determined set-point; (b) circumstantial factors (e.g.,

income or education); and (c) activities and practices that relate to happiness. The latter

component addresses potentials for change via specific types of intentional activities. One

aim of research in positive psychology is to develop and test so-called positive

interventions; i.e., ‘[…] treatment methods or intentional activities aimed at cultivating

POSITIVE INTERVENTIONS IN PEOPLE AGED 50-79 YEARS 4

positive feelings, positive behaviors, or positive cognitions’ (Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009;

p. 468).

Two recent meta-analyses (Bolier, Haverman, Westerhof, Riper, Smit, &

Bohlmeijer, 2013; Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009) lend support to the notion that these types

of intentional activities are effective to increase levels of (subjective) well-being and

ameliorating depression. However, the studies that entered the meta-analyses also show

that there is one group that was comparatively neglected. When going through the two

meta-analyses, it was striking to see that only six out of the 69 studies dealt with people

of comparatively higher age (i.e., used samples with a mean age over 50 years). When

inspecting the mean age of the participants in the studies that entered the meta-analyses, it

was evident that most of them were conducted with younger participants—frequently

students. Hence, there is a lack of data from middle aged and older samples to further

substantiate findings in the usefulness of positive interventions in broader age groups.

There is, however, literature in the field that has already established the relevance

of positive psychology in general and positive interventions in older adults. It was

suggested that humor plays an important role for the well-being of older adults (e.g.,

Konradt, Hirsch, Jonitz, & Junglas, 2013; Proyer, Ruch, & Müller, 2010; Ruch &

McGhee, in press; Ruch, Proyer, & Weber, 2010b). Konradt et al. (2013) tested the

effects of a standardized humor therapy group for depressive patients (compared to a

group of patients with no treatment); all ≥ 61 years of age. Only patients in the humor-

group showed lower state seriousness and greater satisfaction with life after completion

of the program (see also Hirsch, Junglas, Konradt, & Jonitz, 2010). Another recent study

employing an autobiographical memories-intervention tested the effects of forgiveness

and gratitude in people over sixty years and also found positive effects on well-being

(Ramírez, Ortega, Chamorro, & Colmenero, 2013).

POSITIVE INTERVENTIONS IN PEOPLE AGED 50-79 YEARS 5

Vaillant (2004) defined the mission of positive or successful aging as ‘[…] to add

more life to years, not just more years to life’ (p. 561). Research on successful aging

followed two main goals: Identifying positive conditions of aging, and developing

strategies for the promotion of successful aging (Fernández-Ballesteros, 2003). The

examination and development of such strategies is one of the core interests of positive

psychology, and there also seems to be a rising interest in interventions promoting

positive psychological traits in older people (Jeste & Palmer, 2013). It has also already

been established that the experience of positive emotions (or its balance with negative

emotions) is of similar importance in older adults as in younger people (Meeks, Van

Haitsma, Kostiwa, & Murrell, 2012). In fact, Peterson and Seligman’s (2004)

conceptualization of strengths (i.e., morally positively valued traits) and virtues would

give rise to the idea that they may increase (due to longer and constant training) with

higher age (see e.g., Ruch et al., 2010ab). From these perspectives, it seems even more

surprising that only few studies within the field of positive psychology have yet focused

on older samples.

One disadvantage of positive interventions conducted in group-settings or in

individual settings is that they are not economic in terms of the resources needed.

Therefore, positive interventions were developed that can be disseminated via the Internet

and be self-administered by the participants. In a placebo-controlled design, Seligman,

Steen, Park, and Peterson (2005) tested the effectiveness of five positive interventions for

of up to six months after the intervention in a large sample of adults. They found positive

effects on happiness and depressive symptoms for the gratitude visit- (writing a letter of

gratitude to a person, who has not been thanked so far, reading the letter to this person,

and thinking about the feelings during writing and reading the letter1), three good things-

(writing down three things that went well on that day and reasoning why those things

happened and what emotions were experienced in the respective moments on each day
POSITIVE INTERVENTIONS IN PEOPLE AGED 50-79 YEARS 6

for one week before going to bed), and using signature strengths in a new way-

interventions (participants completed the Values-in-Action Inventory of Strengths [VIA-

IS; Peterson, Park, & Seligman, 2005; Ruch et al., 2010], which is a questionnaire that

assesses the 24 character strengths of Peterson and Seligman’s [2004] Values-in-Action-

classification; participants received an individual feedback on their top five strengths

[i.e., their so-called “signature strengths”] and were instructed to use them in a new way

on each day for one week in their daily activities) in comparison with a placebo control

exercise early memories (writing down early childhood memories and looking for

similarities in these memories on each day for one week before going to bed; this exercise

focuses on listing facts rather than perceived emotions associated with the memories).

These findings have recently been well replicated in a study using German-speaking

participants (Gander, Proyer, Wyss, & Ruch, 2013). Gander et al. (2013) also tested

further interventions and variants of existing interventions and found a humor-based

variant of the ‘three good things’-intervention (the three funny things–intervention; i.e.,

writing about the three funniest things that happened during the day and reasoning why

those things happened on each day for one week before going to bed), to be the most

effective intervention in reducing depressive symptoms. It has been argued that writing

about three funny things may induce amusement, which is one important facet of positive

emotions (see Güsewell & Ruch, 2012; Ruch, 2009). In the Gander et al. (2013) study it

has further been argued that amusement can be a buffer against negative states and

experiences. Additionally, amusement has been associated with other positive functions

such as enabling social bonds (Ruch, 2009).

There is broad empirical evidence that positive interventions may be effectively

administered via the Internet (e.g., Abbott, Klein, Hamilton, & Rosenthal, 2009; Gander

et al., 2013; Mitchell, Stanimirovic, Klein, & Vella-Brodrick, 2009; Mongrain &

Anselmo-Matthews, 2012; Schueller & Parks, 2012; Seligman et al., 2005; Shapira &
POSITIVE INTERVENTIONS IN PEOPLE AGED 50-79 YEARS 7

Mongrain, 2010). However, none of these studies had a focus on people of higher age

and, thus, information on the applicability and effectiveness of such interventions in

samples aged 50 and older is rather limited. The main aim of this study was narrowing

this gap. For this purpose, we tested the impact of the interventions that were effective in

Seligman et al. (2005) plus the revised ‘Three funny things’-intervention for which we

expected comparable effects than for the ‘Three good things’-intervention. Dependent

variables were long-term changes in happiness (we expected an increase) and depressive

symptoms (amelioration).

We were interested in sustainable changes in happiness and depressive symptoms

and, therefore, not only assessed changes in the dependent variables directly after the

intervention, but also after one, three, and six months. We expected that findings for our

sample of people aged 50 and above would mirror findings reported for samples with

mainly younger participants. Thus, all interventions should be effective in increasing

levels of happiness and ameliorating depressive symptoms.

Method

Participants

A total of 510 participants were randomly assigned to the intervention groups or

the placebo control group (see Figure 1).

______________________________

Insert Figure 1 about here

______________________________

All in all, 32.0% completed the interventions and all four follow-up assessments.

The final sample consisted of N = 163 adult females, aged 50 to 79 (M = 55.58, SD =

5.16). About half of the sample was married or in a registered partnership (51.5%), 11.7%

were in a relationship, 11.0% were single, 23.9% were divorced or living in separation,

and 1.8% were widowed. Close to three quarters of the sample had children (76.7%). The
POSITIVE INTERVENTIONS IN PEOPLE AGED 50-79 YEARS 8

sample was well-educated: More than half of the sample (55.2%) had a degree from a

university or a university of applied sciences, 13.5% had a degree allowing them to attend

university, 29.4% completed vocational training, 1.2% completed secondary education,

and one participant (0.6%) had basic schooling only. About three thirds of the sample

were currently employed (76.7%), whereas a few were homemakers (11.0%), retirees

(9.8%), or currently unemployed (2.5%).

Sample sizes for the intervention groups were n = 30 (gratitude visit), n = 44

(three good things), n = 20 (three funny things), n = 35 (using signature strengths in a

new way), and n = 34 (placebo control group: Early memories). The intervention groups

did not differ regarding marital status (χ2[16, N = 163] = 18.69, p = .29), education level

(χ2[16, N = 163] = 17.05, p = .38), or current occupation (χ2[12, N = 163] = 19.90, p =

.07). However, the age of the participants differed among the groups (F[4, 158] = 2.55, p

= .04). However, none of the post-hoc tests (Hochberg’s GT2) revealed significant

differences between two particular groups; the largest difference was found for the

comparison between the ‘gratitude visit’-group and the placebo control group (p = .08),

with participants in the former group being on average 3.4 years younger than those in

the placebo control group.

Instruments

The Authentic Happiness Inventory (AHI, Seligman et al., 2005; in the German

version used by Ruch et al., 2010ab) consists of 33 sets of five statements describing the

person’s feelings during the past week best (e.g., ‘My life is a bad one’ through ‘My life is

a wonderful one’). Compared to other happiness measures, the AHI allows for a better

differentiation among individuals with high scores in happiness, and is also more

sensitive to changes than other happiness measures. Seligman et al. (2005) reported

convergent validity with other widely used happiness measures. Various studies,

including intervention studies, have applied the AHI and reported high reliabilities (e.g.,
POSITIVE INTERVENTIONS IN PEOPLE AGED 50-79 YEARS 9

Ruch, Proyer, Harzer, Park, Peterson, & Seligman, 2010; Schiffrin & Nelson, 2010;

Schueller & Seligman, 2010; Shapira & Mongrain, 2010). The alpha-coefficient in this

sample was .93 (pretest).

The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D; Radloff, 1977;

in the German adaptation by Hautzinger & Bailer, 1993) is a 20-item measure for the

presence and duration of depressive symptoms during the past week; a sample item is ‘I

thought my life had been a failure.’ Answers are given on a 4-point scale from 0 (=

‘Rarely or None of the Time [Less than 1 Day]’) to 3 (= ‘Most or All of the Time [5–7

Days]’). The CES-D is one of the most frequently used questionnaires for assessing

depressive symptoms (Shafer, 2006), and good psychometric properties were reported for

the original and the German version (Radloff, 1977; see also Hautzinger & Bailer, 1993).

Finally, the CES-D is also sensitive to changes (Hautzinger & Bailer, 1993) and has

already been used in intervention studies (e.g., Seligman et al., 2005). The alpha

coefficient in this sample was .94 (pretest).

Procedure

Participants registered at a free website affiliated with an institution of higher

education in the German speaking part of Switzerland. This site was especially designed

for the administration of positive interventions (http://www.staerkentraining.ch). A large

German bi-weekly magazine with predominantly female readers advertised the study as

part of a series of articles on resilience; this generated the main portion of participants.

People that were currently undergoing psychotherapeutic or psychopharmacologic

treatment or indicated the intake of psychotropic or illegal drugs were excluded from

participation. After registration, participants completed the baseline measures of the AHI

and the CES-D and were then given the instruction for a one week-intervention.

Participants were randomly assigned (via an automated random number generator) to

either the ‘gratitude visit’, or the ‘three good things’, ‘three funny things’, or ‘signature
POSITIVE INTERVENTIONS IN PEOPLE AGED 50-79 YEARS 10

strengths’-intervention, or the placebo control exercise (‘early memories’). After the

intervention, as well as one, three, and six months after the intervention, participants were

notified via email to return to the website to complete follow-up assessments of the AHI

and the CES-D. At the first posttest, participants were also asked, whether they have

conducted the assigned intervention. Only those participants, who indicated that they had

conducted the intervention and completed all posttests, were included in the further

analyses. After completing all posttests, participants received individualized feedback on

their scores in the AHI and the CES-D, but no other incentives for participation were

offered. The federal ethics committee approved this study.

For this study, we analyzed original data, but also re-analyzed data that were

available from an earlier study (“earlier data”; Gander et al., 2013). When the earlier

study was conducted, we collected additional data for parallel groups that had not been

analyzed earlier (“original data”). From both samples (earlier and original data), we

analyzed only participants ≥ 50 years of age. The two samples did not differ regarding

their expressions in the dependent variables (all comparisons were n.s.) and the

composition of the samples regarding demographics was comparable. Therefore, we

collapsed the samples into one larger dataset; about 59% of the sample sizes for the ‘three

good things’, the ‘signature strengths’, and the ‘gratitude’-conditions were re-analyzed

(earlier data), whereas the other part was original data. In doing so we could analyze

group sizes that are needed to detect expected effects; based on the effect size estimations

for positive psychology interventions by Sin and Lyubomirsky (2009; happiness: r = .29;

depressive symptoms: r = .31), group sizes of approximately 30 to 35 participants were

needed to find an effect with an 80% chance in a one-tailed contrast2. The initial data

collection was aimed at a replication of the study by Seligman and colleagues (2005),

thus, there was not a parallel group for the ‘three funny things’-intervention since it was

newly developed and we only collected additional data for the replication groups (all
POSITIVE INTERVENTIONS IN PEOPLE AGED 50-79 YEARS 11

original data). Furthermore, since there were no male participants in the ‘three funny

things’-group and in the parallel groups, and only few in the other groups, we analyzed

only data of female participants.

Results

Preliminary analyses

About one third (32.0%) completed all post measurement time points. This is in

the expected range for attrition rates in self-administered online interventions (see

Mitchell, Vella-Brodrick, & Klein, 2010). There were no differences between participants

who did not complete all follow-ups differed from those with full data regarding age,

marital status, education level, employment status, or happiness and depressive symptoms

at pretest; all p > .05. The intervention groups and the placebo-group also did not differ in

their respective dropout rates; χ2(4, N = 510) = 3.22, p = .52.

Effects of the interventions

Table 1 gives means and standard deviations for all intervention groups and the

placebo group across the pre- and post-measurement time points for a first visual

inspection of changes at a descriptive level.

______________________________

Insert Table 1 about here

______________________________

An inspection of the mean scores in Table 1 suggested trends in the expected

direction; i.e., an increase in happiness and a decrease in depressive symptoms in the

intervention groups. We further tested the effectiveness of the interventions in

comparison with the placebo-activity (early memories; Seligman et al., 2005) by

computing planned contrasts (condition × time interaction for every time period

compared with pretest; see Figure 22).

______________________________
POSITIVE INTERVENTIONS IN PEOPLE AGED 50-79 YEARS 12

Insert Figure 2 about here

______________________________

Figure 2 shows that there were effects for the ‘gratitude visit’ at the time period of

one month after the intervention, yet with small effect sizes for both dependent variables

(both p = .07). Contrary to the expectation there were effects only at the post-test for the

‘three good things’-intervention; the effects for the intervention did not outperform the

effect of the placebo control-group at any other time point. The ‘three funny things’-

intervention was most effective in terms of a reduction of depressive symptoms (all time

points). Additionally, there was an increase in happiness at the six months post measure.

The intervention aimed at identifying and using one’s signature strengths in daily

activities was most effective in terms of an increase in happiness; i.e., differences at all

measurement time points, with the largest effect of all interventions at the one-month

follow-up (η2 = .12). Additionally, depressive symptoms were reduced at the post-test

and the one-month follow-up.

Critical differences

Aside from the reported changes on a group level, we were also interested in

changes at an individual level. Therefore, we compared the number of participants that

demonstrated significant increases in happiness and decreases in depressive symptoms

between the intervention groups and the placebo control group by calculating critical

differences (using a critical p-value of 5%) and comparing the groups with a chi-square

test (one-tailed; Fisher’s exact test was used if the expected cell frequencies were smaller

than 5). Results showed that there were more participants that showed significant

improvements in happiness in the ‘gratitude visit’-group (40.0%) than in the placebo

control group (14.7%) after three months (χ2 [1, N = 64] = 5.23, p = .02). For the ‘three

good things’-group there was a marginally significant difference at the immediate post-

test compared to the placebo control group (18.2% vs. 5.9%; χ2 [1, N = 78] = 2.60, p =
POSITIVE INTERVENTIONS IN PEOPLE AGED 50-79 YEARS 13

.10). In the ‘signature strengths’-group were more participants with increases in

happiness than in the placebo control group after one (40.0% vs. 20.6%; χ2 [1, N = 69] =

3.07, p = .04) and three months (40.0% vs. 14.7%; χ2 [1, N = 69] = 5.53, p = .01). There

were no differences in happiness between the ‘three funny things’-group and the control

group. However, for depressive symptoms, there were more participants that indicated a

significant reduction in the ‘three funny things’-group than in the control group at

immediate post-test (55.0% vs. 23.5%; χ2 [1, N = 54] = 5.47, p = .01). Also, there was a

marginally significant effect for the ‘gratitude visit’ after three months (38.7.0% vs.

23.5%; χ2 [1, N = 65] = 1.75, p = .10). Finally, there was one unexpected finding: After

one month, there were less participants in the ‘three good things’-group (15.9%) than in

the placebo control group (32.4%) that showed a significant reduction of depressive

symptoms (χ2 [1, N = 78] = 2.92, p = .04). However, this effect disappeared in the

following assessments; i.e., after three and six months.

Discussion

This study provides support for the notion that interventions developed in the

realm of positive psychology (so called positive psychology interventions, PPIs) proved

effective for increasing well-being and ameliorating depressive symptoms among people

aged 50 and above. This study may break the ground for further research on PPIs for

people starting from a middle age. The findings are encouraging and may justify stronger

consideration of such techniques in research and in the future also in practice. The single

interventions differed in their effectiveness (time point, dependent variable), but all

seemed useful for participants in this age group. Although there were differences in the

effectiveness of the intervention in comparison with earlier studies that were based on

younger samples, the interventions seem to contribute to well-being in this age group as

well. The findings are also encouraging regarding the usefulness of self-administered

online-interventions with participants of higher age.

POSITIVE INTERVENTIONS IN PEOPLE AGED 50-79 YEARS 14

The ‘three good things’-intervention is among those interventions that typically

demonstrate the strongest and most enduring effects in intervention studies (Gander et al.,

2013; Mongrain & Anselmo-Matthews, 2012; Seligman et al., 2005). However, in the

present data, there were only effects (for happiness and depressive symptoms) at the

immediate post-test. This finding was unexpected given what has been reported in earlier

studies. One might argue that the instructions provided the participants for this

intervention need refinement. Unfortunately, we do not know what the participants noted

when writing down their daily three good-things. It would be interesting to see in a future

qualitative study whether there are age-dependent differences in these productions. If so,

age-specific amendments to the instruction might be useful and strengthen the

effectiveness of the intervention in this age group.

The findings for the ‘three funny things’-intervention were different from those of

the other two interventions: It led to an increase in happiness at the six-months time point

and to an amelioration of depressive symptoms in all post-measures. Hence, it was the

most effective strategy for ameliorating depressive symptoms in this study, as it had been

in an earlier study by Gander et al. (2013). In comparison with the ‘three good things’-

intervention one might argue that the ‘three funny things’ is perhaps more strongly

directed at incidents that are associated with positive affectivity and that this type of

intervention has the potential to elicit the emotion of amusement (see Ruch, 2009). It can

only be speculated whether participants of this age group thought more about the ‘big

picture’ and wrote about more general things in the ‘three good things’-conditions, but

more about current and immediate incidents when thinking about the three funniest things

of the day. Thus, a difference might be that the funny events are more narrow and,

therefore, only associated with positive emotions, but that three good things may relate to

incidents that are considered positive, but, more so in a general way. However, this is at

the level of speculations at the moment and needs further testing.

POSITIVE INTERVENTIONS IN PEOPLE AGED 50-79 YEARS 15

The ‘using signature strengths in a new way’-intervention was associated with an

increase in happiness in all post-measures. It also ameliorated depressive symptoms in

the post-test and one month after the intervention. As in previous studies, this

intervention was among the most effective ones. Again, these findings lend support to the

notion that character strengths play an important role for an individual’s well-being

(Peterson & Seligman, 2004; see also e.g., Buschor, Proyer, & Ruch, 2013; Park,

Peterson, & Seligman, 2004; Peterson, Ruch, Beermann, Park, & Seligman, 2007; Proyer,

Ruch, & Buschor, 2013). Character strengths have not yet been studied in much detail in

older people—the exceptions are closer investigations of single strengths (Ruch et al.,

2010ab). This is unexpected since Peterson and Seligman (2004) argue that character

strengths are malleable and that strengths may increase due to further practice (i.e., with

higher age; see Ruch et al., 2010b).

The ‘gratitude visit’ led to a marginally significant increase in subjective well-

being and a reduction in depressive symptoms in the one-month post-intervention

measure. Earlier studies reported stronger (Seligman et al., 2005) and longer lasting

effects for this intervention (Gander et al., 2013). For the case of this intervention one

might speculate as to whether the interplay with the age of the participant plays a stronger

role than in other interventions. Thinking about a person that played an important role in

one’s own life and missed opportunities for expressing ones gratitude might also have

aversive effects. Again, we suggest specifying the instruction for this intervention; e.g.,

by focusing on recent events and people involved in those activities.

There is a potential for positive interventions in research and practice of

gerontology and geriatrics. Positive psychology interventions conducted over the Internet

are cost-effective and the findings demonstrate that they also seem to be feasible for

people of comparatively advanced age. All interventions were self-administered and,

aside from a computer connected to the Internet, they do not require any materials or
POSITIVE INTERVENTIONS IN PEOPLE AGED 50-79 YEARS 16

specific soft- or hardware. Recent statistics show that the majority of Swiss people older

than 50 currently have access to the Internet and use it actively. For example, between

April 2012 and March 2013, about 70.9% of the Swiss people aged between 50 and 69

years accessed the Internet on a regular basis (i.e., multiple times per week) and this

percentage is constantly increasing (Swiss Federal Statistical Office, 2013). Hence, there

seems to be a potential for such web-based program for people in this age group.

This study has several limitations. The sample consisted only of females and a

large portion of the sample were readers of a women’s magazine. Thus far, no gender

effects were reported for the effectiveness of positive psychology interventions.

Nevertheless, it would be desirable to replicate and extend these findings with more

diverse samples. Despite the high number of people of this age group who are using the

Internet on a regular basis, it cannot be concluded that the sample is representative for the

population aged 50 and above—especially people of even more advanced age groups are

underrepresented. Thus, the generalizability of the findings needs to be shown

empirically. The sample sizes were comparatively small and the size of the ‘three funny

things’-group differed from the others, resulting in low statistical power. Also, most of

the effect sizes found were considerably lower than those reported by Sin and

Lyubomirsky (2009). Although the attrition rate was in an expected range (see Mitchell et

al., 2010), a relatively large number of participants did not complete all post

measurement time points. Follow-up studies need to develop techniques that ensure

greater adherence to the program (e.g., greater flexibility with the time points for testing).

For this study, we did not vary the instructions of the intervention. In future studies it

seems advisable to make amendments to the instructions for increasing the person ×

intervention-fit. It has been argued that the economy in the presentation and conduct of

the study is a plus for this type of interventions. However, it needs to be acknowledged

that individually conducted interventions and those that are conducted with groups could
POSITIVE INTERVENTIONS IN PEOPLE AGED 50-79 YEARS 17

be more effective (Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009). We do not yet have experience with the

effectiveness of these interventions in clinical groups of middle-aged and older adults.

However, findings from other research groups (e.g., Hirsch et al., 2010; Konradt et al.,

2013; Ramírez et al., 2013) are encouraging. The question arises on the suitability of the

current design for clinical populations. Especially in groups of participants lacking

energy and zest there might be problems with high attrition rates when self-administered

interventions that are probably less binding on the side of the participants are used (since

there is no person for direct interactions aside from a contact person via e-mail). It also

needs to be clearly stated that it is not proposed that these interventions are intended to

replace current treatment techniques for patients, but that they might be an effective

supplement—one that is also directed at people from the general public (non-clinical

groups) that want to actively develop their well-being. However, further research is

needed to see whether these expectations can be met.

Critics of positive psychology sometimes argue that it is a prescriptive discipline

that follows a dogmatic principle of happiness. Of course, this is a misunderstanding and

the aim is not to ignore problems or challenges people face (e.g., due to illnesses,

personal losses, or other critical life events). Rather, the aim of this type of studies is to

evaluate simple techniques that can help improving people’s well-being and that may

help to either buffer daily hassles and problems, or contribute to a faster recovery from

serious problems (e.g., illnesses; see Peterson, Park, & Seligman, 2006). Positive

interventions in middle-aged and older adults can help increase well-being and more

research needs to be done for a better understanding of its underlying processes and

working mechanisms.

Conflicts of interest

The corresponding author states that there are no conflicts of interest.

POSITIVE INTERVENTIONS IN PEOPLE AGED 50-79 YEARS 18

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Dr. Frank A. Rodden for proofreading the manuscript.

Word count (without cover page): 4,972

POSITIVE INTERVENTIONS IN PEOPLE AGED 50-79 YEARS 19

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Footnotes
1
Given space restrictions we paraphrase the original instructions here only. We

give the core instructions. In our studies we use these instructions plus some further

explanations on how to conduct the study and give some examples to make it easier

following the instructions. We also provide a working sheet for download that can be

used by the participants for the practical completion of the intervention (e.g., giving space

for completion of an intervention on Day 1, Day 2, and so forth). The full instructions are

available from the authors.

2
A Table with all F-scores for the comparisons has been uploaded as

supplemental material (Table 2).

 POSITIVE INTERVENTIONS IN PEOPLE AGED 50-79 YEARS 25
Table 1

Means and Standard Deviations of the Ten Groups at the Five Time Periods for Happiness and Depressive Symptoms

Pre Post 1M 3M 6M

N M SD M SD M SD M SD M SD

Happiness
Gratitude visit 30 93.33 18.54 92.43 19.18 97.43 20.38 98.43 23.21 97.93 22.57

3 good things 44 96.98 16.93 100.50 17.74 99.86 20.50 99.95 22.70 98.11 22.55

3 funny things 20 101.45 10.59 99.95 13.74 103.20 12.35 104.25 21.69 107.80 19.43

Signature strengths 35 98.43 18.02 101.26 16.94 108.54 21.11 106.26 20.87 106.97 21.04

Early Memories 34 95.85 13.57 94.56 14.26 95.71 14.51 97.97 15.81 96.38 17.99

Depressive Symptoms
Gratitude visit 30 18.27 13.34 15.93 12.77 12.03 10.22 12.80 9.63 14.73 12.88

3 good things 44 12.95 10.42 8.89 9.25 12.45 11.79 12.36 11.51 13.30 11.47

3 funny things 20 17.80 11.29 9.05 6.10 11.00 8.05 11.40 12.52 12.15 11.33

Signature strengths 35 14.97 12.19 9.00 8.34 9.49 10.46 11.06 11.13 10.57 9.24

Early Memories 34 13.59 9.08 11.56 7.44 11.12 8.61 10.88 9.30 12.50 9.47

Note. Happiness = Authentic Happiness Inventory, Depression = Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. 1 M = one month after the
intervention, 3 M = three months after the intervention, 6 M = six months after the intervention.
POSITIVE INTERVENTIONS IN PEOPLE AGED 50-79 YEARS 26

Figures

Figure 1: Flow of participants through each stage of the study.

Figure 2: Happiness and depressive symptoms among the groups at the five measurement

periods.