The Impact of an Integrated Gratitude Intervention on Positive Affect and Coping Resources

Gratitude interventions are an emerging focus in clinical work. Consistent with theories of positive emotions, research needs to examine the effects of gratitude on different wellbeing outcomes after a positive experience. To this end, the current study examines the effects of a gratitude intervention on positive emotions and coping resources (resilience and coping self-efficacy) after a positive experience. Forty-eight university students completed a positive experience exercise and were then randomly assigned to either a gratitude or control task. Results revealed a significant interaction effect, such that individuals in the gratitude intervention group reported higher levels of positive emotions (at time 3) compared to the control group. This finding supported the hypothesis that gratitude maintains positive emotions resulting from a positive experience. Our findings also revealed a significant main effect of condition on resilience and coping self-efficacy. Specifically, the gratitude intervention group reported higher levels of resilience and coping self-efficacy compared to the control group. These findings support the hypothesis that gratitude interventions employed after a positive experience impact coping resources. The results are further discussed in terms of gratitude being an effective upregulation strategy.