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Over the last few years, various studies have reported decreasing well-being levels among doctoral students, who show a higher risk of suffering from psychological distress than the general population. Accordingly, European policies in higher education encourage well-being promotion programs among doctoral studies to enhance young researchers’ well-being. However, programs using evidence-based practices for well-being promotion are not yet generalised in public universities. The present study describes a pilot experience designed to evaluate the efficacy of a well-being program among doctoral candidates of a public European university, the Autonomous University of Barcelona. 25 doctoral students (67% women) participated in a pre-post study consisting of six sessions of 3 h each and structured by the big five criteria coming from evidence-based practices for well-being promotion: outdoor green spaces exposure, physical activity, gamification, mentoring, positive and coaching psychology techniques. Results showed how participants experienced significant increases in several indicators of emotional well-being and decreased psychological distress after the Third Half program. These positive pilot results encourage further research and future replications to assess the impact of this evidence-based psychological program among the academic community. Results also lead the way towards the creation of healthier academic workplaces by implementing cost-effective interventions that improve researchers’ psychosocial support and their overall well-being.

Introduction Time attitudes refer to the way individuals feel about their past, present, and future and have been associated with adolescent-specific developmental, social, and emotional changes. The dual-factor model of mental health proposes that optimal functioning entails high levels of emotional, social, and psychological well-being, as well as low levels of psychopathology. Since previous research has suggested that time attitudes can assist in understanding the development of adolescents, the primary objective of this study was to examine the relationship between time attitudes and mental health according to the dual-factor model. Methods: A total of 317 Spanish high school students aged between 14 and 16 years (45.1% females) participated in the study. Time attitudes were assessed with the Adolescent and Adult Time Inventory-Time Attitudes Scale, and profiles were identified through person-centered analysis. Data were also gathered on well-being and psychological distress measures, which were analyzed as distal outcomes. Results: Four time attitude profiles were identified – negatives, positives, past negatives, and present/future negatives. Adolescents belonging to the positive profile reported higher scores on well-being and lower scores on psychological distress. The psychological well-being and depression constructs had higher (positive and negative, respectively) scores across all profiles. These results suggested an association between time attitude profiles and mental health according to the dual-factor model. Conclusions: We suggest that positive psychology interventions may nudge adolescents towards a more positive appraisal of the past, present, and future and promote their mental health and positive development. Further practical implications are discussed.

Emotional intelligence (EI) plays a key role in the adjustment of adolescents during this transitional life period. The accumulated evidences suggest that EI is associated with happiness, considered the affective component of subjective well-being and optimism and pessimism, considered cognitive mechanisms to expect either a brighter or darker future. In spite of the relevance of the relationship between EI, happiness, optimism, and pessimism, the majority of the research falls behind findings with adult samples, accumulating little knowledge in the context of adolescence. Furthermore, the measurement of EI has been recently challenged by the introduction of the bifactor model into the study of EI. The goal of the current study was to explore the association of EI with happiness, optimism, and pessimism in adolescence by introducing the bifactor EI model. The participants were 493 Spanish high-school students ranging from 14 to 18 years old (52.7% females) who completed self-report questionnaires. The results demonstrated that the bifactor EI model with an e-factor (general EI factor) and three emotional dimensions (emotional attention, emotional clarity, and emotional regulation) also represented the best well-fitted structure in adolescence. Most remarkably, results suggested that general EI and emotional regulation predicted positively happiness and optimism, while emotional attention predicted positively pessimism and negatively happiness. These results highlight the importance of the measurement of EI in the study of associated outcomes that are considered relevant during the period of adolescence. Hence, the specific role of the EI dimensions are important when explaining the relationship of EI with happiness, optimism, and pessimism.

Multicomponent positive psychology interventions are increasing in the general population but the study of its effectiveness in adolescents is still scarce, especially in the school context. Previous meta-analyses have reported that multicomponent positive psychology interventions increase well-being and reduce distress outcomes. However, the results on these outcomes limit their samples to adult populations. The aim of the current systematic review and meta-analysis is to evaluate and compare the immediate but also long-lasting effects of school-based multicomponent positive psychology interventions aimed at increasing well-being indicators of mental health (i.e., subjective and psychological well-being) and reducing the most common psychological distress indicators (i.e., depression, anxiety, and stress) in adolescents. A total of 9 randomized and non-randomized controlled trials from the searched literature met inclusion criteria for the meta-analysis. The results showed small effects for subjective well-being (g = 0.24), psychological well-being (g = 0.25), and depression symptoms (g = 0.28). Removing low-quality studies led to a slight decrease in the effect sizes for subjective well-being and a considerable increase for psychological well-being and depression symptoms. The relevant moderation analyses had an effect on subjective well-being and depression symptoms. The present systematic review and meta-analysis found evidence for the efficacy of school-based multicomponent positive psychology interventions in improving mental health in the short and long-term. Small effects for subjective well-being, psychological well-being, and depression symptoms were identified. Effects for psychological well-being and depression symptoms remained significant over time. In light of our results, education policy-makers and practitioners are encouraged to include positive practices within the schools' curriculum as effective and easily implemented tools that help to enhance adolescents' mental health. Further research is needed in order to strengthen the findings about school-based multicomponent positive psychology interventions in adolescents.

The effectiveness of multicomponent positive psychology interventions (MPPIs) on adolescents' mental health has been studied with the use of standard procedures throughout the scientific literature. However, little is known about the potential mechanisms underlying the network structure of mental health following the dual-factor model after an MPPI. We relied on network analysis to explore the reorganization of the connections between mental health indicators after a school-based MPPI. Adolescents from two high schools in Spain were randomly allocated to the 6-week intervention group (n = 85) or to the control group (n = 135). Network analysis showed that the relations between the two differentiated network dimensions of mental health (i.e. well-being and psychological distress) changed after the intervention. Unlike control participants, emotional well-being was negatively associated with depression and stress, while psychological well-being was positively related to stress after the intervention. The present study supports the viability of the network approach in analyzing the connections between mental health indicators as defined by the dual-factor model and the contribution of MPPIs to change the complex pattern of relations between the dimensions of well-being and psychological distress.

The COVID-19 pandemic has constituted a global health crisis that has threatened the mental health of individuals worldwide. The present paper sought to systematically review and meta-analyze studies reporting the prevalence during the COVID-19 pandemic of well-being and psychological distress as defined by the dual-continua model, which includes (absence of) psychological distress and (presence of) well-being among the general population and healthcare workers. Systematic searches were conducted in various databases: PubMed, PsycINFO, Scopus, and Web of Science from inception until 6 December 2020. From a total of 158 studies (N = 880,352) included in the meta-analysis, only seven reported the prevalence of well-being. A random-effect model was used to estimate the pooled prevalence among the general population and healthcare workers on depression (25%; 31%), anxiety (27%; 31%), stress (35%; 32%), and well-being (52%; 45%), respectively. Sub-group analyses based on region, income, percentage of women, preparedness of country to respond to COVID-19, and economic vulnerabilities were conducted in order to examine sources of heterogeneity in psychological distress. Results revealed differences among the two groups and indicated that disparities in terms of preparedness to fight the pandemic can distinctly affect mental health in the general population and healthcare workers. Addressing mental health during and after a health crisis should be in the spotlight of the international and national public health agenda. Considering the protective role of well-being to minimize psychological symptoms, mental health policies during the COVID-19 should include strategies to combat the psychological consequences of the pandemic by promoting well-being practices.The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-022-02913-6.

Time attitudes, which refer to positive and negative feelings towards the past, present, and future, are a salient phenomenon in the developmental stage of adolescence and have been related to better well-being. Positive feelings towards time can be promoted in the school setting through empirically validated positive psychology interventions. However, the extent to which these interventions impact the time attitudes of adolescents remains unknown. The current study investigated the influence of a multicomponent positive psychology intervention on adolescents’ transitions between time attitude profiles and how these transitions are related to their emotional, social, and psychological well-being. Participants consisted of 220 (M = 14.98; 47.3% female) adolescents from two Spanish high schools who participated in the six-week Get to Know Me+ program. Adolescents’ time attitudes and well-being were measured via the Adolescents and Adult Time Inventory–Time Attitudes and the Mental Health Continuum–Short Form, respectively, at pre- and postintervention. Participants were clustered in different profiles through a latent profile analysis, and the transitions were analyzed using a latent transition analysis. Five profiles were identified (negative, present/future negative, past negative, optimistic, and positive), and results indicated that adolescents who participated in the intervention were more likely to transition to positive profiles (optimistic and positive) and generally reported higher well-being, especially those in the negative, present/future negative, and optimistic profiles. Preliminary evidence showed that school-based multicomponent positive psychology interventions can have a positive impact on adolescents’ feelings towards time and well-being.

Social processes depend on individual features that make possible the development of social relationships and strong ties. Mental well-being (i.e., emotional, social, and psychological) in particular plays a key role in these processes influencing the formation of social ties. However, little is known about the potential of perceiving individuals as happy because of their levels of mental well-being. The aim of the study is to perform a longitudinal social network analysis to explore how mental well-being predicts being perceived as a happy individual. The study sample comprised 240 first-year university students and data were gathered through self-reported measures and peer reports, asking the students to select happy peers according to their perceptions. Results confirmed that mental well-being influenced the judgments of individuals regarding being perceived as a happy peer at zero-acquaintance level. These findings support mental well-being as an important resource to facilitate the development of social relationships.

The COVID-19 outbreak entailed radical shifts to individuals&rsquo, daily habits that challenged their subjective well-being (SWB). Knowledge about the impact of COVID-19 on SWB is paramount for developing public policies to tackle mental health during health emergency periods. Decreases in life satisfaction are likely not only due to exposure to daily negative emotions but also due to hopelessness, fear, and avoidance of social interactions. We examined in a sample of 541 Spanish adults (1) reactions to the COVID-19 outbreak and (2) the mediating role of these reactions in the associations of hope and social phobia with life satisfaction through different levels of positive and negative affect. A moderated mediation analysis showed that the conditional indirect effect of hope and social anxiety on life satisfaction through information depended on the participants&rsquo, having high positive affect and low negative affect. Affect seems to be a mechanism that modulates the influence of individuals&rsquo, perception about COVID-19 on their life satisfaction. Those with high positive affect might see the &ldquo, general picture&rdquo, and search for adequate information as they avoid focusing on the problem and on specific information that precludes preventive behaviors. Having a positive affect might help individuals to adopt information-processing strategies during the COVID-19 outbreak that will improve their life satisfaction.

Several studies on the verifiability approach found that truth-tellers report more verifiable details than liars. Therefore, we wanted to test whether such a difference would emerge in the context of malingered symptoms. We obtained statements from undergraduates (N D 53) who had been allocated to three different conditions: truth-tellers, coached malingerers and na ıve malingerers. Truth-tellers carried out an intensive physical exercise and after a short interval wrote a report about their experience and elicited symptoms. The two malingering groups had to fabricate a story about the physical activity and its symptoms. Truth-tellers did not generate more verifiable details than malingerers. However, malingerers reported more non-verifiable details than truth-tellers. Coached and na ıve malingerers did not differ in this respect. Relative to truth-tellers, na ıve malingerers reported more symptoms-related nonverifiable details, while coached malingerers reported more exercise-related non-verifiable details. Focusing on non-verifiable details may inform the detection of malingered symptoms. This work was supported by the House of Legal Psychology/Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate [Framework Partnership Agreement (FPA) 2013- 0036]; [Cohort 2015 with Specific Grant Agreement (SGA) 2015-1610].