Background
Multiple interventions have been tested to promote well‐being in high school students, often focusing on depression prevention.
Aims
To test the impact of a one‐semester active learning curriculum covering the modern science and philosophy of well‐being and happiness on attitudinal measures related to the curriculum and standard measures of depression and well‐being.
Sample
Subjects were first‐year students in an urban high school in Beijing, China (equivalent to US tenth grade).
Methods
Nine classrooms were randomly assigned to the intervention curriculum (n = 252), and nine classrooms were randomly assigned to a traditional psychology curriculum (n = 263). Students completed questionnaires pre‐ and post‐semester including a Positive Attitude Scale (PAS, concerning Relatedness, Competence, Autonomy, Gratitude, Calmness, Mindfulness, and Hope), Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS), Centers for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES‐D), Life Satisfaction Scale (LS), Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS), Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ), and a test of knowledge about well‐being (Knowledge Test, KT).
Results
In a hierarchical linear model, there were statistically significant intervention effects on six of the seven subscales of the PAS, on PANAS balance, and on the KT. CES‐D, LS, SHS, and MLQ were improved but not significantly so. Notable overall secular trends in measures of well‐being were observed, with a peak in September and nadir in April.
Conclusions
A one‐semester course for high school students regarding well‐being and happiness demonstrated significant changes in positive attitudes, affective balance, and knowledge about happiness. Circannual trends in well‐being measures over the academic year have implications for those designing school intervention studies.