The impact of a brief gratitude intervention on subjective well-being, biology and sleep.
This randomised controlled experiment tested whether a brief subjective well-being intervention would have favourable effects on cardiovascular and neuroendocrine function and on sleep. We compared 2 weeks of a gratitude intervention with an active control (everyday events reporting) and no treatment conditions in 119 young women. The treatment elicited increases in hedonic well-being, optimism and sleep quality along with decreases in diastolic blood pressure. Improvements in subjective well-being were correlated with increased sleep quality and reductions in blood pressure, but there were no relationships with cortisol. This brief intervention suggests that subjective well-being may contribute towards lower morbidity and mortality through healthier biological function and restorative health behaviours.
University College London, UK University of Roehampton, UK marta.jackowska@roehampton.ac.uk.
Marta
M
Jackowska
University College London, UK.
Jennie
J
Brown
University College London, UK.
Amy
A
Ronaldson
University College London, UK.
Andrew
A
Steptoe
D000328:Adult; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000378:metabolism*; D000067656:Optimism; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
D006854:Hydrocortisone
biological responses; gratitude; intervention; sleep; subjective well-being