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Positive Education and Mental Health

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A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Mental Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2022) | Viewed by 43525

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Sylvia Kwok

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Guest Editor

Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Interests: positive psychology; mental health (suicide, anxiety, depression); children and adolescents; families (parent-child, marital relationship)

Prof. T. Wing Lo

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Guest Editor

Department of Social and Behavioural Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China
Interests: Chinese Organised Crime; Triad Societies & Anti-Corruption; Youth Justice & Offenders' Rehabilitation; Group Counselling & Action Therapy; Outreach Social Work & Working with Youth-at-risk

Prof. Dr. Anastassios Stalikas

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Co-Guest Editor

Psychology Department, Panteion University, Athens, Greece
Interests: Positive Psychology; Clinical Psychology; Health Psychology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Positive education is an emerging paradigm that involves the application of positive psychology principles to education. It aims to cultivate a positive school culture and to promote the wellbeing of students, teachers, and parents with a focus on nurturing their character strengths, positive emotions, social engagement, relationship meaning, accomplishment, and mental health that enable them to live a happy and flourishing life. Its ultimate goal is to enhance wellbeing and prevent mental health problems. It ignites a paradigm shift from a pathological perspective to a positive psychological point of view to mental health. Different theoretical frameworks on positive education have been developed in recent years. In addition to students and teachers, positive education can be applied to different target groups, such as parents, seniors, mental health patients, and ex-offenders. In previous years, positive education programmes have been conducted to different target groups in different socioeconomic and cultural contexts. Moreover, positive education has been integrated with different intervention methods to enhance the wellbeing of participants. In addition, there is the incorporation of positive technologies to improve the health and wellbeing of people.

This Special Issue aims to provide a platform for exchanging empirical studies and theoretical innovation in the fields of positive education and mental health. We welcome social workers, teachers, educators, psychiatrists, psychologists, counsellors, researchers and scholars, and healthcare professionals including doctors, nurses, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, or policy makers to submit empirical studies, theoretical papers, systematic reviews, or meta-analyses on the following topics.

Topics of interest include but are not limited to:

Theoretical frameworks and perspectives of positive education;
Teaching pedagogy of positive education;
Application of positive education to different target groups;
Application of positive education in different settings, e.g., social welfare services, health services, business organizations;
Application of positive education in different socioeconomic and cultural contexts;
Effectiveness of different types of positive education programmes;
Components of wellbeing: positive relationship, positive emotion, positive engagement, positive accomplishment (growth and fixed mindset), meaning of life, and character strengths;
Whole school approach to positive education and school transformation;
Application of positive technologies for improving health and wellbeing;
Integration of positive education with other interventions;
Cultural issues related to positive education;
Positive education and wellbeing;
Positive education and resilience;
Relationship of positive education with public policy;
Future development of positive education

Dr. Sylvia Kwok
Prof. T. Wing Lo
Prof. Dr. Anastassios Stalikas
Guest Editors

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

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Keywords

positive education
wellbeing
mental health
resilience
teaching pedagogy
positive emotions
positive relationships
positive engagement
positive accomplishment
meaning of life

Published Papers (11 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 699 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Associations between Health Education and Mental Health, Burnout, and Work Engagement by Application of Audiovisual Stimulation

by Argang Ghadiri, David-Lennart Sturz and Hadjar Mohajerzad

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(15), 9370; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19159370 - 30 Jul 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1989

Abstract

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, health education programs and workplace health promotion (WHP) could only be offered under difficult conditions, if at all. In Germany for example, mandatory lockdowns, working from home, and physical distancing have led to a sharp decline in expenditure on prevention and health promotion from 2019 to 2020. At the same time, the pandemic has negatively affected many people’s mental health. Therefore, our goal was to examine audiovisual stimulation as a possible measure in the context of WHP, because its usage is contact-free, time flexible, and offers, additionally, voice-guided health education programs. In an online survey following a cross-sectional single case study design with 393 study participants, we examined the associations between audiovisual stimulation and mental health, work engagement, and burnout. Using multiple regression analyses, we could identify positive associations between audiovisual stimulation and mental health, burnout, and work engagement. However, longitudinal data are needed to further investigate causal mechanisms between mental health and the use of audiovisual stimulation. Nevertheless, especially with regard to the pandemic, audiovisual stimulation may represent a promising measure for improving mental health at the workplace. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Positive Education and Mental Health)

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16 pages, 1102 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Laugh before You Study: Does Watching Funny Videos before Study Facilitate Learning?

by Mengke Wang and Zengzhao Chen

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(8), 4434; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19084434 - 7 Apr 2022

Viewed by 2499

Abstract

Emotions exist widely in the entire process of learning and affect students’ motivation as well as academic performance. In multimedia learning, academics usually focus on the impact of teachers’ emotions or the emotional design of multimedia learning materials on students’ emotions and learning results. Few studies have investigated how to enhance learning by regulating students’ pre-learning emotions. This study focused on whether playing funny videos before learning could promote students’ positive emotions to enhance their motivation, satisfaction, and learning outcomes. We randomly divided 81 elementary school students into two groups: experimental group and control group. While the experimental group watched funny video clips, the control group watched neutral video clips before starting the video learning. The experimental group had more positive pre-learning emotions than the control group. After the course, the emotion of the experimental group declined while that of the control group enhanced. However, positive pre-learning emotions still promoted students’ understanding and transfer of learning materials. Moreover, no significant differences were observed between the two groups in learning motivation, satisfaction, and retention tests. Furthermore, this paper analyzed the causes of the experimental results and discussed the insights for teaching. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Positive Education and Mental Health)

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21 pages, 1187 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Innovative Model of Positive Education with Traditional Chinese Moral Values: An Evaluation of Project Bridge

by Gloria Hongyee Chan, Gabriel Kwun Wa Lee, Chris Yiu Wah Kong and T. Wing Lo

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(7), 3797; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19073797 - 23 Mar 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2847

Abstract

Project Bridge, as a new, contextualized positive education program, is designed to enhance university students’ character strengths and moral development, resulting in the promotion of their psychological wellbeing. Taking into account the differences between Western and Chinese cultures, the project integrated both Western and Asian concepts and values in the delivery of university education that would likely bring about optimal outcomes. In the evaluation, mixed methods were applied to demonstrate the outcomes of this newly developed positive education program. Pre- and post-test, as well as reflective writing, were adopted to measure the outcomes. Both quantitative and qualitative results demonstrated satisfying outcomes. Implications and future developments are discussed in the conclusion. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Positive Education and Mental Health)

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20 pages, 2484 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Identifying Learners’ Interaction Patterns in an Online Learning Community

by Xuemei Wu, Zhenzhen He, Mingxi Li, Zhongmei Han and Changqin Huang

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(4), 2245; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19042245 - 16 Feb 2022

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 3880

Abstract

The interactions among all members of an online learning community significantly impact collaborative reflection (co-reflection). Although the relationship between learners’ roles and co-reflection levels has been explored by previous researchers, it remains unclear when and with whom learners at different co-reflection levels tend to interact. This study adopted multiple methods to examine the interaction patterns of diverse roles among learners with different co-reflection levels based on 11,912 posts. First, the deep learning technique was applied to assess learners’ co-reflection levels. Then, a social network analysis (SNA) was conducted to identify the emergent roles of learners. Furthermore, a lag sequence analysis (LSA) was employed to reveal the interaction patterns of the emergent roles among learners with different co-reflection levels. The results showed that most learners in an online learning community reached an upper-middle co-reflection level while playing an inactive role in the co-reflection process. Moreover, higher-level learners were superior in dialog with various roles and were more involved in self-rethinking during the co-reflection process. In particular, they habitually began communication with peers and then with the teacher. Based on these findings, some implications for facilitating online co-reflection from the perspective of roles is also discussed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Positive Education and Mental Health)

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11 pages, 362 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Picturing Mental Health on Instagram: Insights from a Quantitative Study Using Different Content Formats

by Isabell Koinig

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(3), 1608; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19031608 - 30 Jan 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 8726

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 has changed individual lives to the core. Through national curfews and social distancing, individuals’ social lives changed and led to increased levels of stress and mental health problems. As another consequence, communication, especially among young people, has shifted to social networking sites, where particularly young adults sought help for their mental health problems. In recent years, Instagram has received recognition for its health-enhancing potentials. On this social networking site, more than 1 billion users worldwide post 500 million stories and images per day. Methods: During COVID-19, increasing mental health incidences were reported throughout the world, and have led mental health influencers to gain in relevance. The proposed study is based on a quantitative survey. In order to test how different content formats utilized by mental health influencers —motivational quotes, comics, or influencer posts—are evaluated by Instagram users, a cross-sectional quantitative study was conducted in April 2021. Data collection was based on convenience sampling. In total, 532 Austrian respondents between 16 and 34 years of age participated in the survey. Results: Overall, the content that received the most favorable evaluations were both the motivational quote (M = 4.23) and the influencer post (M = 4.12), while the comics scored lower in terms of evaluations (M = 3.72). Conclusions: Respondents’ preference of content suggests that individuals seek out content that boosts their esteem or content with a “human touch”. Explanations as to why the selected content formats were preferred over the other formats are offered alongside a future research outlook. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Positive Education and Mental Health)

13 pages, 3483 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Positive Adult Education, Learned Helplessness and the Pygmalion Effect

by David Cobos-Sanchiz, Manuel-Jesús Perea-Rodriguez, Juan-Agustín Morón-Marchena and María-Carmen Muñoz-Díaz

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(2), 778; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19020778 - 11 Jan 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4930

Abstract

Positive education is seen as a transformative methodological approach capable of improving the act of teaching and learning and, above all, essential for the development of students’ personal skills and competences. However, few studies have been carried out on this topic in the field of adult and continuing education; instead, they have been published mainly in the field of formal education and at school age. This study works with a sample of 399 people over 16 years of age and students of the Universidad Popular de Dos Hermanas in order to show the relationship between the Pygmalion effect and learned helplessness in the process of acquiring knowledge in adulthood. In this way, three tools were used: one questionnaire that showed the teachers’ perceptions of the students’ qualities and behaviour and two that provided information on self-concept, self-esteem, personal and social skills and other variables directly related to emotional intelligence and positive education. It shows how exposure to negative operational constraints hinders the psychosocial and socio-educational development of learners in all possible ways, while, on the other hand, it indicates the importance of positive education to compensate for this phenomenon by enhancing the development and growth of those who study and participate in non-formal education through positive reinforcement. Likewise, the factorial interrelation of both positive and negative conditioning factors and their incidence on learning is shown; the importance of neutralising the negative components and strengthening the positive reinforcement and the role played by the community and education professionals as catalysts and behavioural modulators at any stage of learning and age group for the achievement of the objectives of the student and of education itself in a broad sense. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Positive Education and Mental Health)

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16 pages, 913 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Development of a Scale Measuring Emotional Catharsis through Illness Narratives

by Hung-Chang Liao and Ya-huei Wang

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(16), 8267; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18168267 - 4 Aug 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2232

Abstract

Objective: This study intended to construct a scale measuring the catharsis effect on medical professionals or students through illness narratives (ECS-IN). Methods: After a systematic literature review and panel discussion, the researchers conducted a pilot study with a sample of seven hundred and eighty-two randomly selected healthcare students and providers in Taiwan to examine psychometric properties using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) for item derivation and factor extraction. The researchers also tested the validities and reliabilities of the ECS-IN scale to confirm its feasibility. Results: the EFA yielded 29 items and three factors: “emotional identification as self-healing” (12 items; 55.500% of variance explained), “emotional release for compensation” (10 items; 7.465% of variance explained), and “emotional adjustment for intellectual growth” (7 items; 4.839% of variance explained). The CFA yielded an 18-item, three-factor model with satisfactory fit to the data, where the χ²/df ratio = 1.090, Tucker–Lewis index (TLI) = 0.996, comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.997, and root mean square of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.020. The convergent validity and discriminant validities also demonstrated the feasibility of the ECS-IN scale. For the first version of the ECS-IN scale (29 items), the Cronbach’s alphas for the three factors and the overall scale were in the range between 0.912 and 0.971; for the reduced version of the scale (18 items), the Cronbach’s alphas and composite reliabilities were in the range of 0.888–0.946 and 0.890–0.968. Conclusion: The findings proved that the ECS-IN could be a reliable and valid instrument to assess participants’ emotional catharsis through illness narratives. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Positive Education and Mental Health)

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15 pages, 2837 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Affective Domain—A Program to Foster Social-Emotional Orientation in Novice Physical Education Teachers

by Sima Zach and Hily Rosenblum

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(14), 7434; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18147434 - 12 Jul 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3616

Abstract

The present study aimed to assess the influence of an emotional-based program for novice physical education teachers on their perception of the affective domain in teaching, and the influence of the program on their social-emotional orientation. Thirty-two physical educators in their induction year participated. Instrumentations included reflective assignments: individual tasks, a group artwork task, short videos containing student–teacher scenarios, and summary reflections. The study covered tasks that contained a variety of emotional expressions—verbalizing, acting, and art creation. Content analysis was conducted for each of the assignments. The results indicate that the participants felt that they gradually developed an awareness of the role of emotions in their practice. In addition to personal gain, they felt that their empathy for others—especially their students—was enhanced. These results highlight the important influence that an emotional-based program has on physical educators’ social-emotional orientation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Positive Education and Mental Health)

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18 pages, 387 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Teachers’ Perceptions of Student Mental Health in Eastern China: A Qualitative Study

by Min Yao, Paul I Kadetz, Aissata Mahamadou Sidibe, Yedong Wu, Jiameng Li, Jinping Lyu, Cuiling Ma and Therese Hesketh

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(14), 7271; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18147271 - 7 Jul 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3379

Abstract

In China, primary and secondary school teachers, known as ban zhu ren, have pastoral responsibility for the students in their class. The aim of this preliminary study is to identify how ban zhu ren perceive the mental health of their students, and how they have acted on these perceptions. Content analysis was used to organize the data and distinguish categories or themes derived from in-depth semi-structured interviews conducted with 27 ban zhu ren from Zhejiang and Anhui provinces. Frequencies of informant responses were used to identify the areas of agreement and disagreement across identified categories and themes among the informants. The results illustrate that the informants consider issues, such as not paying attention in class (n = 14), not getting along well with classmates (n = 12), and excessive gaming (n = 11) to be indicative of mental illness, although these would commonly be considered normal adolescent behaviors. Fifteen informants admitted that they found it difficult to work with student mental health issues, and 18 felt they had inadequate or non-existent training. However, all informants stated that they had intervened with what they perceived to be students’ mental health issues, although only 9 informants had referred students for professional help. The informants reported that they were reluctant to provide referrals, due to the stigmatization they believed students would experience if given a diagnosis of mental illness. We conclude that among our informants there is a lack of agreement on what behavioral and mental health issues are, and that informants may be confusing what are, in actuality, non-conformist or non-compliant (yet often normal), adolescent behaviors with mental illness due to insufficient mental health training. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Positive Education and Mental Health)

12 pages, 705 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Mediating Role of Engagement on the Achievement and Quality of Life of University Students

by Inmaculada García-Martínez, José María Augusto Landa and Samuel P. León

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(12), 6586; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18126586 - 18 Jun 2021

Cited by 25 | Viewed by 3588

Abstract

(1) Background: Academic engagement has been reported in the literature as an important factor in the academic achievement of university students. Other factors such as emotional intelligence (EI) and resilience have also been related to students’ performance and quality of life. The present study has two clearly delimited and interrelated objectives. First, to study the mediational role that engagement plays in the relationship between EI and resilience on quality of life. Secondly, and similarly, to study the mediational role of engagement in the relationship between EI and resilience, but in this case on academic achievement. (2) Methods: For this purpose, four scales frequently used in the literature to measure emotional intelligence, resilience, academic engagement and quality of life were administered to 427 students of the University of Jaén undertaking education degrees. In addition, students were asked to indicate their current average mark as a measure of academic performance. Two mediational models based on structural equations were proposed to analyse the relationships between the proposed variables. (3) Results: The results obtained showed that emotional intelligence and resilience directly predicted students’ life satisfaction, but this direct relationship did not result in academic performance. In addition, and assuming a finding not found so far, engagement was shown to exert an indirect mediational role for both life satisfaction and academic performance of students. (4) Conclusions: The findings of the study support the importance of engagement in the design and development of instructional processes, as well as in the implementation of any initiative. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Positive Education and Mental Health)

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23 pages, 1493 KiB

Open AccessArticle

State of Mind Ireland-Higher Education: A Mixed-Methods Longitudinal Evaluation of a Positive Mental Health Intervention

by Niamh O’Brien, Martin Lawlor, Fiona Chambers and Wesley O’Brien

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(15), 5530; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17155530 - 31 Jul 2020

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 4407

Abstract

Objective: This study evaluates the impact of the State of Mind Ireland-Higher Education (SOMI-HE) Mental Fitness intervention on student wellbeing, resilience, and physical activity (PA) participation. Design: A mixed-methods research design, comprising of a self-report questionnaire, and semi-structured focus group interviews at pre, post and follow-up phases were employed. Participants were a sample of 134 higher education students (29% male: 71% female; mean age range 18 to 25 years old). The quantitative outcome measures of wellbeing, resilience and PA data were analysed using SPSS version 26.0, (IBM, Armonk, NY, USA) with appropriate statistical analysis. Qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis to capture the long-term outcomes and impact of the intervention. Results: The results indicate a significant intervention effect on participants’ wellbeing (t (120) = −4.27, p < 0.001), PA levels (t (126) = 3.91, p < 0.001) and motivational readiness for exercise change (χ2 (1, n = 131) = 6.9, p < 0.009 (2–sided). Qualitative findings suggest a sustained long-term increase in PA and resilience skills for positive mental health, and reduced stigma and barriers to positive mental health. Conclusion: The findings demonstrate the effectiveness of the SOMI-HE evidence-based intervention, and beneficial outcomes of a salutary approach to higher education student mental health. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Positive Education and Mental Health)

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