Healthy
Conditions
Keywords
Gratitude Journaling, Stress, Belonging, Optimism, Gratitude
Brief summary
The objective of this study is to explore the potential benefit of gratitude journaling for students in grades 6-12 and their teachers. Specifically, the investigators seek to determine if the process of gratitude journaling decreases stress, student absenteeism, and teacher burnout, while increasing gratitude, optimism, and a sense of belonging.
Detailed description
Does gratitude journaling decrease perceived stress in students? Does gratitude journaling reduce absenteeism in student class attendance? Does gratitude journaling increase gratitude in participants? Does gratitude journaling increase optimism in participants? Does gratitude journaling increase a sense of belonging in students? And finally, does gratitude journaling decrease teacher burnout? The investigators hypothesize the gratitude journaling process will decrease stress, student absenteeism, and teacher burnout, while increasing gratitude, optimism, and a sense of belonging in participants. This study will utilize a pre-test post-test correlational study design. As a preliminary pilot study, the investigators seek to determine the potential benefits of gratitude journaling. For this study, Lynnie Gandola is a community partner. The journals were created by Lynnie. The journals she created were supplied to the schools at cost with a grant from the School of Life Foundation (schooloflifefoundation.org) as an initiative that principals in the district chose to implement this semester. These journals will be distributed to students regardless of whether or not the pre-test post-test surveys are administered. The investigators are looking to collect data from a journaling exercise that is already taking place. A letter of support from Lynnie Gandola is attached, stating that she approves the assessment of the effectiveness of the gratitude journals. Additionally, this study will use archival class attendance data. This information will be provided as aggregate data from the school districts, with all student information deidentified. For data collection with teachers, a non-randomized control group will also be utilized to compare burnout scores between teacher who did and did not participate in the gratitude journaling.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALExperimental (Gratitude Journaling)
60-Day Gratitude Journaling With Guided Prompts
BEHAVIORALControl (journaling without gratitude)
60-Day Journaling Without a Gratitude Focus
Sponsors
Michael Rhoads
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Subject)
Intervention model description
This study employs a randomized control trial. However, one subgroup of participants were not randomized and only received the treatment condition (gratitude journaling).
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
9 Years to 18 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* To be included in this study, individuals must be a student from a school district in the rocky mountain region.
Exclusion criteria
* A participant would no longer be eligible for participation if their status as a student ends. Scenarios include incarceration, illegal behavior, or mental illness that requires absence or discontinued school attendance.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Stress | From enrollment to 60-day post-test | Perceived Stress Scale. The scale has a range of scores from 0-40 with high scores indicating high stress (low scores are better outcomes). |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Gratitude | From enrollment to 60-day post-test | Gratitude Questionnaire-6. The scale has a range of scores from 6-42 with high scores indicating high gratitude (high scores are better outcomes). |
| Optimism | From enrollment to 60-day post-test | Life Orientation Test. The scale has a range of scores from 0-24 with high scores indicating high levels of optimism (high scores are better outcomes). |
| Belonging | From enrollment to 60-day post-test | General Belongingness Scale. The scale has a range of scores from 12-84 with high scores indicating high belonging (higher scores are better outcomes). |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed