Zhang Lei, Chen Xiao, Wan Hengjing
Shanghai Minhang District Mental Health Center (Pujiang Hospital of Shanghai Mental Health Center), Shanghai, China.
School of Nursing, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Front Psychol. 2025 Aug 29;16:1535744. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1535744. eCollection 2025.
Adolescence is a critical period marked by increasing academic pressure and evolving self-cognition, making junior high school students particularly vulnerable to mental health challenges. Positive psychology interventions (PPIs) based on the PERMA framework have shown promise in improving well-being, but studies targeting Chinese middle school students remain limited. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a personalized PERMA-based PPI in enhancing well-being and resilience among junior high school students in Shanghai, China.
A total of 154 students were randomly assigned to either an experimental group ( = 77) or a control group ( = 77). The experimental group participated in an eight-week intervention involving weekly sessions designed to enhance the five dimensions of the PERMA framework: Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment. The control group continued with regular psychology courses. Pre- and post-intervention assessments were conducted using validated scales measuring well-being, resilience, and coping styles. Paired -tests were used for within-group comparisons and ANCOVA for between-group comparisons, analyzed in R (v4.2.2).
At baseline, the experimental group had lower scores in positive emotion (12.4 ± 4.02 vs. 13.8 ± 4.39), relationships (12.4 ± 4.22 vs. 13.8 ± 4.05), and total well-being (47.5 ± 13.6 vs. 51.1 ± 14.4) compared to the control group. After the intervention, the experimental group showed significant improvements in positive emotion (+2.3), relationship (+2.2), and total well-being (+3.4). The experimental group also demonstrated significant increases in accomplishment (+1.4), engagement (+1.2), goal focus (+2.1), positive cognition (+1.5), and total resilience (+5.2). No significant changes were observed in coping styles, though slight improvements in positive coping tendency (from -0.02 to -0.13) and a slight decrease in negative coping tendency (from -0.02 to -0.01).
This study provides empirical evidence for the effectiveness of personalized PPIs in addressing adolescents' mental health challenges, with notable improvements in well-being and resilience. Limitations include the small sample size for paired analysis ( = 58) and the timing of the intervention during the final exam period, which might have introduced biases. Future research should explore the sustained effects of such interventions and their scalability across diverse educational settings.
青春期是一个关键时期，其特点是学业压力不断增加和自我认知不断演变，这使得初中生特别容易受到心理健康挑战的影响。基于PERMA框架的积极心理学干预措施（PPIs）已显示出改善幸福感的前景，但针对中国中学生的研究仍然有限。本研究旨在评估基于PERMA的个性化PPIs对提高中国上海初中生幸福感和恢复力的有效性。
总共154名学生被随机分配到实验组（n = 77）或对照组（n = 77）。实验组参加了为期八周的干预，每周进行一次课程，旨在增强PERMA框架的五个维度：积极情绪、投入、人际关系、意义和成就。对照组继续学习常规心理学课程。干预前后使用经过验证的量表进行评估，测量幸福感、恢复力和应对方式。组内比较使用配对t检验，组间比较使用协方差分析，在R（v4.2.2）中进行分析。
在基线时，与对照组相比，实验组在积极情绪（12.4±4.02对13.8±4.39）、人际关系（12.4±4.22对13.8±4.05）和总体幸福感（47.5±13.6对51.1±14.4）方面得分较低。干预后，实验组在积极情绪（+2.3）、人际关系（+2.2）和总体幸福感（+3.4）方面有显著改善。实验组在成就（+1.4）、投入（+1.2）、目标专注度（+2.1）、积极认知（+1.5）和总体恢复力（+5.2）方面也有显著提高。应对方式没有显著变化，尽管积极应对倾向略有改善（从-0.02到-0.13），消极应对倾向略有下降（从-0.02到-0.01）。
本研究为个性化PPIs解决青少年心理健康挑战的有效性提供了实证证据，在幸福感和恢复力方面有显著改善。局限性包括配对分析的样本量较小（n = 58）以及干预时间在期末考试期间，这可能引入了偏差。未来的研究应探索此类干预措施的持续效果及其在不同教育环境中的可扩展性。
