Table 1.
Characteristics of studies included in the systematic review and meta-analysis
| First author (Year) | Disorder | % female | Mean age (SD) | PPI name (n) | Format (guidance) | Duration in days or weeks (n sessions) |
Control group (n) | Retention rate post-treatment |
Follow-up (in weeks) | Outcome measure | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PPI | Control | WB | DEP | ANX | S | |||||||||
| Andrewes (2014) [40] | Brain injury | 10% | 42.2 (8.5) | Three good things in life / Signature strengths (4) | Individual (Yes) | 2w (1–2) | CBT (5) | 80% | 100% | 10 | AHI | |||
| Asgharipoor (2012) [41] | Major Depressive Disorder | 72% | 26.4 (5.9) | Positive psychotherapy (9) | Group (Yes) | 12w (12) | CBT (5) | 100% | 100% | – | EWBS | BDI-II | SUDS | |
| Breitbart (2010) [43] | Advanced cancer | 51% | 60.1 (11.8) | Meaning-centered group psychotherapy (49) | Group (Yes) | 8w (8) | Supportive Psychotherapy (41) | 71.4% | 48.8% | 8 | FACIT-SP | HADS-D | HADS-A | |
| Breitbart (2012) [42] | Advanced cancer | 61% | 54.4 (11.6) | Meaning-centered group psychotherapy (64) | Individual (Yes) | 7w (7) | Massage (56) | 64.1% | 66.1% | 8 | FACIT-SP | HADS-D | HADS-A | |
| Breitbart (2015) [44] | Advanced cancer | 70% | 58.2 (11.0) | Meaning-centered group psychotherapy (132) | Group (Yes) | 8w (8) | Supportive Psychotherapy (121) | 52.3% | 47.9% | 8 | FACIT-SP | BDI-II | HADS-A | |
| Celano (2016) [55] | Major Depressive Disorder | 69% | 44 (16.6) | Positive Psychology Intervention (32) | Individual (Yes) | 6w (6) | Cognition Focused Intervention (33) | 90.6% | 87.8% | 6 | PA | QIDS-SR | ||
| Cerezo (2014) [46] | Breast cancer | 100% | 50 (9.7) | Positive Psychology Intervention (87) | Group (Yes) | 14w (14) | Waitlist (88) | 86.1% | 83% | – | SWLS | |||
| Chaves (2017) [47] | Depression/ Dysthymia | 100% | 51.7 (10.4) | Positive Psychology Intervention (47) | Group (Yes) | 10w (10) | CBT (49) | 72.4% | 79.6% | – | SWLS | BDI-II | BAI | |
| Cohn (2014) [48] | Type 2 diabetes | 51% | 54 (U) | DAHLIA: Developing Affective HeaLth to Improve Adherence (29) | Individual (No) | 5w (0) | Emotion reporting (20) | 86.2% | 85% | – | PA | CES-D | PSS | |
| Coote (2012) [49] | Depression | 71% | 52.5 (13.4) | Goal-setting and Planning (26) | Individual (No) | 5w (0) | Waitlist (29) | 92.3% | 62.1% | 5 | PA | CES-D | ||
| Elham (2015) [50] | Cardiovascular diseases | 41% | 68.9 (8.3) | Need-based spiritual/religious interventions (33) | Individual (Yes) | 3 days (3) | No treatment (33) | 100% | 100% | – | SWBS | STAI | ||
| Fava (1998) [51] | Affective disorders | 55% | 28.4 (6.6) | Well-being therapy (10) | Group (Yes) | 16w (8) | CBT (10) | 100% | 100% | – | PWB | CID-D | SQ-A | |
| Fava (2005) [52] | Generalized anxiety disorder | 65% | 41.9 (11.9) | Well-being therapy (10) | Group (Yes) | 16w (8) | CBT (10) | 80% | 80% | 52 | PWB | CID-D | CID-A | |
| Henry (2010) [53] | Stage III or IV ovarian cancer | 100% | 55 (9.7) | The Meaning-Making intervention (12) | Individual (Yes) | 8w (3) | TAU (12) | 80% | 92.3% | 12 | FACIT-SP | HADS-D | HADS-A | |
| Hsiao (2012) [54] | Breast cancer | 100% | 46.2 (8.6) | Body-mind-spirit (BMS) group therapy (26) | Group (Yes) | 8w (8) | One psycho-educational session (22) | 69.2% | 95.4% | 32 | MLQ | BDI-II | ||
| Huffman (2016) [55] | Coronary syndrome | 40% | 62.8 (11.5) | Positive Psychology Interventions (23) | Individual (Yes) | 8w (8) | TAU (25) | 87% | 88% | – | PA | HADS-D | HADS-A | |
| Kent (2011) [56] | Posttraumatic Stress Disorder | 33% | 54 (8.34) | Resilience-Oriented Treatment (20) | Group (Yes) | 12w (12) | Waitlist (19) | 95% | 89.5% | – | PWB | BDI-II | STAI | PDS |
| Kerr (2015) (Group 1 gratitude) | Various mental problems | 75% | 43 (11.1) | Gratitude Interventions (16) | Individual (No) | 2w (14) | Mood monitoring (15) | ? | ? | – | MLQ | DASS-D | DASS-A | DASS-S |
| Kerr (2015) (Group 2 Kindness) | Various mental problems | 75% | 43 (11.1) | Kindness Interventions (16) | Individual (No) | 2w (14) | Mood monitoring (15) | ? | ? | – | MLQ | DASS-D | DASS-A | DASS-S |
| Krentzman (2015) [58] | Alcohol use disorder | 48% | 46.3 (10.9) | Web-based gratitude exercise (11) | Individual (No) | 2w (14) | Placebo (11) | ? | ? | 8 | PA | |||
| Lee (2006) [59] | Breast or colorectal cancer | 81% | 56.7 (10) | Meaning-making intervention (35) | Individual (Yes) | 4.5w (4) | No treatment (39) | 85.4% | 95.1% | – | LOT-R | |||
| Louro (2016) [60] | Colorectal cancer | 34% | (U) | Enhancing Positive Emotions Procedure (31) | Group (Yes) | 6w (4) | No treatment (21) | 77.4% | 95.2% | 4 | PA | |||
| Mann (2001) [61] | HIV patients | 100% | 38.5 (8.2) | Future Writing and Optimism (21) | Individual (No) | 4w (8) | No treatment (23) | 95.2% | 87% | – | LOT-R | |||
| Muller (2016) [62] | Physical disability and chronic pain | 70% | 59.4 (11.8) | Computer-based positive psychology intervention (51) | Individual (No) | 8w (0) | Writing exercises (45) | 76.5% | 74.5% | 10 | PWI | HADS-D | ||
| Nikrahan (2016) [63] (group 1) | Heart diseases | 24% | 56.6 (8.7) | Fordyce’s positive CBT (15) | Group (Yes) | 6w (6) | Waitlist (14) | 66.7% | 85.7% | – | SWLS | BDI-II | ||
| Nikrahan (2016) [63] (group 2) | Heart diseases | 24% | 56.6 (8.7) | Lyubomirsky’s the how of happiness (13) | Group (Yes) | 6w (6) | Waitlist (14) | 92.3% | 85.7% | – | SWLS | BDI-II | ||
| Nikrahan (2016) [63] (group 3) | Heart diseases | 24% | 56.6 (8.7) | Seligman’s authentic Happiness (13) | Group (Yes) | 6w (6) | Waitlist (14) | 76.9% | 85.7% | – | SWLS | BDI-II | ||
| Pietrowsky (2012) [64] | Depression | 53% | 38.9 (8.6) | Positive Psychology Interventions (9) | Group (Yes) | 4w (3) | TAU (8) | 77.8% | 75% | – | SWLS | BDI-II | ||
| Sanjuan (2016) [65] | Cardiac diseases | 18% | 54.4 (9.1) | Program to improve Well-being (57) | Group (Yes) | 6w (24) | Relaxation (51) | 87.7% | 84.3% | – | PA | SCL90-D | ||
| Schrank (2016) [66] | Psychosis | 40% | 42.5 (11.3) | Positive psychotherapy (47) | Group (Yes) | 11w (11) | TAU (47) | 91.5% | 87.2% | – | WEMWBS | SDHS | ||
| Seligman (2006) [67] (study 2) | Depression | 76% | (U) | Positive psychotherapy (11) | Individual (Yes) | 12w (14) | TAU (9) | 84.6% | 60% | – | SWLS | ZSRS | ||
| Taylor (2017) [68] | Depression / Anxiety | 62.5% | 29.4 (12.1) | Positive Activity Intervention (16) | Individual (Yes) | 10w (10) | Waitlist (12) | 100% | 92.3% | – | SWLS | BDI-II | STAI | |
| Uliaszek (2016) [69] | Severe emotion dysregulation | 78% | 22.2 (5.0) | Positive Psychotherapy | Group (Yes) | 12w (12) | DBT | 55.6% | 85.2% | – | PPTI | SCL-90-D | SCL-R-A | DTS |
Note. AHI Authentic Happiness Index, ANX Anxiety, BAI Beck Anxiety Inventory, BDI-II Beck Depression Inventory-II, CES-D Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, CID-A Clinical Interview for Depression - Anxiety subscale, CID-D Clinical Interview for Depression - Depression subscale, EWBS Emotional Well-Being Scale, DBT Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, DEP Depression, DTS Distress Tolerance Scale, FACIT-SP Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy - Spiritual Well-being Scale, HADS Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, HADS-A Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale – Anxiety Scale, HADS-D Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale - Depression Scale, HS The Hope Scale, LOT-R Life Orientation Test – Revised, MLQ The Meaning in Life Questionnaire, PA The Positive and Negative Affect Scale - Positive Affect Scale, PDS Posttraumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale, PPI Positive Psychological Intervention, PPTI Positive Psychotherapy Inventory, PSS Perceived Stress Scale, PWB The Ryff Scales of Psychological Well-Being, PWBS Psychological Well-Being Scale, PWI Personal Well-being Index, QIDS-SR Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology, Self-Report, S Stress, SCL-90-A Symptom Checklist 90 – Anxiety subscale, SCL-90-D Symptom Checklist 90 - Depression subscale, STAI Spielberger State – Trait Anxiety Inventory, SQ-A Symptom Questionnaire - Anxiety subscale, SUDS Subjective Units of Distress Scale, SWB Subjective Well-Being, SWBS Spiritual Well-Being Scale, SWLS Satisfaction with Life Scale, TAU Treatment-as-Usual, U Unknown, WB Well-being, WEMMWB Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale