title: Counting blessings in early adolescents: an experimental study of gratitude and subjective well-being.
abstract: The development and manifestation of gratitude in youth is unclear. We examined the effects of a grateful outlook on subjective well-being and other outcomes of positive psychological functioning in 221 early adolescents. Eleven classes were randomly assigned to either a gratitude, hassles, or control condition. Results indicated that counting blessings was associated with enhanced self-reported gratitude, optimism, life satisfaction, and decreased negative affect. Feeling grateful in response to aid mediated the relationship between experimental condition and general gratitude at the 3-week follow-up. The most significant finding was the robust relationship between gratitude and satisfaction with school experience at both the immediate post-test and 3-week follow-up. Counting blessings seems to be an effective intervention for well-being enhancement in early adolescents.
authors.affiliation: Psychology Department, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY 11549, USA. Jeffrey.Froh@hofstra.edu
authors.forename: Jeffrey J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Froh
authors.forename: William J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Sefick
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Emmons
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000339:Affect; D000367:Age Factors; D001290:Attitude; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012919:Social Behavior; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires