Interventions to Modify Psychological Well-Being: Progress, Promises, and an Agenda for Future Research

Laura D Kubzansky¹, Eric S Kim², Julia K Boehm³, Richard J Davidson⁴, Jeffrey C Huffman^{5

6}, Eric B Loucks⁷, Sonja Lyubomirsky⁸, Rosalind W Picard⁹, Stephen M Schueller¹⁰, Claudia Trudel-Fitzgerald^{11

12}, Tyler J VanderWeele^{13

14}, Katey Warran¹⁵, David S Yeager¹⁶, Charlotte S Yeh¹⁷, Judith T Moskowitz¹⁸

Affiliations

¹ Department of Social & Behavioral Sciences, Lee Kum Sheung Center for Health and Happiness, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA USA.
² Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
³ Department of Psychology, Chapman University, One University Drive, Orange, CA USA.
⁴ Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI USA.
⁵ Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA USA.
⁶ Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA.
⁷ Department of Epidemiology, Mindfulness Center, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, RI USA.
⁸ Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA USA.
⁹ MIT Media Lab, MIT Cambridge MA and Empatica, Inc., Boston, MA USA.
¹⁰ Department of Psychological Science, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA USA.
¹¹ Department of Psychology, Université du Québec À Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, Canada.
¹² Research Center, Institut Universitaire en Santé Mentale de Montréal, Montreal, Canada.
¹³ Departments of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA USA.
¹⁴ Human Flourishing Program, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA USA.
¹⁵ Research Department of Behavioural Science and Health, WHO Collaborating Centre for Arts & Health, University College London, London, UK.
¹⁶ Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX USA.
¹⁷ AARP Services, Inc., Washington, DC USA.
¹⁸ Department of Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL USA.

PMID: 37064816
PMCID: PMC9982781
DOI: 10.1007/s42761-022-00167-w

Review

Interventions to Modify Psychological Well-Being: Progress, Promises, and an Agenda for Future Research

Laura D Kubzansky et al. Affect Sci. 2023.

. 2023 Mar 3;4(1):174-184.

doi: 10.1007/s42761-022-00167-w. eCollection 2023 Mar.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Social & Behavioral Sciences, Lee Kum Sheung Center for Health and Happiness, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA USA.
² Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
³ Department of Psychology, Chapman University, One University Drive, Orange, CA USA.
⁴ Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI USA.
⁵ Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA USA.
⁶ Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA.
⁷ Department of Epidemiology, Mindfulness Center, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, RI USA.
⁸ Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA USA.
⁹ MIT Media Lab, MIT Cambridge MA and Empatica, Inc., Boston, MA USA.
¹⁰ Department of Psychological Science, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA USA.
¹¹ Department of Psychology, Université du Québec À Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, Canada.
¹² Research Center, Institut Universitaire en Santé Mentale de Montréal, Montreal, Canada.
¹³ Departments of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA USA.
¹⁴ Human Flourishing Program, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA USA.
¹⁵ Research Department of Behavioural Science and Health, WHO Collaborating Centre for Arts & Health, University College London, London, UK.
¹⁶ Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX USA.
¹⁷ AARP Services, Inc., Washington, DC USA.
¹⁸ Department of Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL USA.

PMID: 37064816
PMCID: PMC9982781
DOI: 10.1007/s42761-022-00167-w

Abstract

Psychological well-being, characterized by feelings, cognitions, and strategies that are associated with positive functioning (including hedonic and eudaimonic well-being), has been linked with better physical health and greater longevity. Importantly, psychological well-being can be strengthened with interventions, providing a strategy for improving population health. But are the effects of well-being interventions meaningful, durable, and scalable enough to improve health at a population-level? To assess this possibility, a cross-disciplinary group of scholars convened to review current knowledge and develop a research agenda. Here we summarize and build on the key insights from this convening, which were: (1) existing interventions should continue to be adapted to achieve a large-enough effect to result in downstream improvements in psychological functioning and health, (2) research should determine the durability of interventions needed to drive population-level and lasting changes, (3) a shift from individual-level care and treatment to a public-health model of population-level prevention is needed and will require new infrastructure that can deliver interventions at scale, (4) interventions should be accessible and effective in racially, ethnically, and geographically diverse samples. A discussion examining the key future research questions follows.

Keywords: Health; Positive psychology; Psychological well-being.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing InterestsTyler VanderWeele reports receiving personal fees from Flerish and Flourishing Metics.

References

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Interventions to Modify Psychological Well-Being: Progress, Promises, and an Agenda for Future Research

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Interventions to Modify Psychological Well-Being: Progress, Promises, and an Agenda for Future Research

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