Articlehybrid2022

A synergistic mindsets intervention protects adolescents from stress

David Scott Yeager · Christopher J. Bryan · James J. Gross · Jared S. Murray · Danielle Krettek Cobb · Pedro Henrique Flores dos Santos +3 more

224 citations0/0 files storedNature

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Student Stress and Coping Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions

Abstract

Social stress poses a major threat to adolescent health via its effects on internalizing symptoms, such as anxiety and depression. Available interventions to help adolescents improve their stress responses, however, have not been effective in rigorous evaluation studies, or they have been difficult to administer widely. Here we show that replicable improvements in adolescent stress responses can be achieved with a short (~30-minute), scalable synergistic mindsets intervention. This intervention, which is a self-administered online training module, targets both growth mindsets (the idea that people's intelligence can be developed in response to challenge) and stress-can-be-enhancing mindsets (the idea that people's stress responses can be fuel for optimal performance). Its goal is to promote positive engagement with stressful events (e.g., learning from failure on a quiz or a conflict with a peer) and to encourage adolescents to use their responses to stressful events and even their bodily symptoms (e.g. racing heart, sweaty palms, butterflies in their stomach) to their advantage. In five double-blind, randomized, controlled trials (total N = 4,091 adolescents), the new synergistic mindsets intervention improved stress-related cognitions (Studies 1-2), cardiovascular reactivity (Study 3), daily internalizing symptoms and cortisol levels (Study 4), and generalized anxiety symptoms during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns (Study 5). Effects on downstream outcomes (in Studies 3-5) were stronger among individuals who, at baseline, held the two negative mindsets targeted by the intervention, providing evidence for the proposed mechanisms. Confidence in this conclusion comes from a conservative, Bayesian machine-learning method for detecting heterogeneity.

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2006A Brief Measure for Assessing Generalized Anxiety Disorder 1919The American Psychological Association 2015Emotion Regulation: Current Status and Future Prospects 2012Mindsets That Promote Resilience: When Students Believe That Personal Characteristics Can Be Developed 1990The Nature, Effects, and Relief of Mathematics Anxiety 2002Reducing the Effects of Stereotype Threat on African American College Students by Shaping Theories of Intelligence 2019A national experiment reveals where a growth mindset improves achievement 2009Current Directions in Psychological Science

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2023Trajectories of Perceived Stress among Students in Transition to College: Mindset Antecedents and Adjustment Outcomes 2023Effectiveness of Online and Remote Interventions for Mental Health in Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults After the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis 2024From growth mindset to positive outcomes in L2 learning: Examining the mediating roles of autonomous motivation and engagement 2022Harnessing growth mindsets to help individuals flourish

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