Scaling Up, While Drilling Down: Effects of a Personalized Positive Psychology Course on College Student and Older Adult Mental Health

The United States is experiencing a mental health crisis across the lifespan. To address this crisis, researchers and professional groups have recommended scaling up individual interventions to larger populations. In this spirit, we evaluated the effects of a uniquely individualized semester-long, positive psychology course on the well-being and mental health of traditional undergraduates and older adults. Using a quantitative, quasi-experimental, pretest–posttest design, participants in two cohorts of positive psychology courses (n = 52) were compared to two cohorts of a control condition (n = 49) on measures of well-being and mental health. To personalize the course experience, the positive psychology course included small group labs and individualized consultations. Compared to students in control courses, traditional college students and older adults who completed the positive psychology course reported statistically significant improvement on eight of 12 outcomes. Medium-to-large effect sizes were found on negative affect (reduced), positive affect (increased), subjective happiness (increased), and pathways-hope (increased). Older adults who were enrolled experienced similar positive outcomes. Integrating small group labs and/or individual consultations may broaden and magnify positive psychology course outcomes. Colleges and universities could use positive psychology courses to attract older, non-traditional students and to scale up mental health prevention and intervention. Future research should explore this curricular innovation, include larger samples, random assignment, greater diversity, and follow-up assessments.