Effects of Strengths-Based Exercises on Depression Prevention and Promotion of Strengths in Adolescents
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Authors
Kinney, Allie R.
Issue Date
2006
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Positive psychology, started by Martin E. P. Seligman, Ph.D., in the late 1990s, is an up-andcoming
movement advocating a more balanced psychology, one that develops inherent strengths
and increases positive emotions in the individual. Although the study of subjective well-being
and quality of life has existed in the areas of counseling and humanistic-based psychology for
several decades, Seligman felt the need for these areas to unify, integrate into the greater
academic defmition of psychology, and find support through empirical research. In the last 8
years, positive psychology has achieved much in understanding and describing why humans
have and need positive emotions and positive traits, but the movement has not done much in the
way of prescribing how positive psychology might be implemented on an institutional level. This
paper explores positive psychology and how it might be applied institutionally by proposing a
study involving youth and positive-oriented changes in behavior. The study proposed in this
paper aims to explore the effectiveness of strengths-based exercises developed by Seligman,
Steen, Park, and Peterson (2005) on adolescents. Using two inventories assessing depressive
symptoms and strengths and virtues in a pre/post-study format, students complete one exercise
per week that is intended to boost their individual strengths. Lasting five weeks, this study
proposes that focusing on and implementing one's specific strengths will increase positive
emotion, buffer against depression, and lower depressive symptoms in students, both
immediately and on a long-term basis.
Description
iv, 33 p.
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License
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