GROW: Development and Effectiveness of a Positive Intervention to Improve Mental Health in Individuals Within Educational Organizations
Creators: name: Blasco-Belled, Ana
name: Tejada-Gallardo
name: Alsinet
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2023

description: <strong>Purpose </strong> In recent years, there has been a significant increase in studies focused on promoting mental health within educational organizations. The third sustainable development goal (UN General Assembly, 2015) emphasizes the importance of "guaranteeing healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages." In line with this objective, initiatives and strategies have been developed to eliminate disparities in well-being, with a focus on the educational population. Mental health is typically understood as consisting of two indicators: the presence of well-being and the absence of psychological distress. Reducing psychological distress is not only necessary for achieving a complete state of mental health, but also for promoting and enhancing well-being (Keyes, 2009). The development of positive psychological interventions are effective programs for promoting well-being and mental health in different settings, including education (Simonton &amp; Baumeister, 2005). The GROW (Gaining Resources for Optimal Well-being) program is a multi-component positive psychological intervention that aims to enhance hedonic and eudaimonic well-being by engaging in positive feelings towards the present, the past, and the future. This program has been proven effective in different contextual groups, including children, adolescents, youth at risk, and educational professionals. The program will be included in a mentoring training program for PhD students at the Universitat de Lleida (Spain) to promote the mental health of early-stage researchers and provide them with the necessary tools to become mental health mentors of future PhD students. <strong>Design </strong> The GROW program includes eight weekly sessions, each lasting for one and a half hours. It focuses on various aspects of well-being, including: (1) the conceptualization of well-being, (2) the identification and utilization of personal strengths, (3) cultivating positive emotions, (4) practicing forgiveness, (5) expressing gratitude, (6) fostering optimism, (7) developing hope, and (8) setting future goals. <em>Measurement</em> Sociodemographic information and self-report measures of mental health (including mental well-being and psychological distress) and personality will be collected. The survey will be distributed to 3<sup>rd</sup> year PhD students via an online platform at the beginning, the end, and three months after the end of the GROW program. <strong>Results (if applicable)</strong> The GROW program has been previously implemented to different settings and has demonstrated to be effective in promoting well-being, especially eudaimonic-related aspects of well-being (psychological and social well-being). Participants who took the intervention revealed gains in mental health compared to participants from control groups. We hypothesize that the implementation of the GROW program to PhD students will enhance the mental health of the participants. <strong>Implications </strong> The promotion of well-being during demanding professional phases, such as in the early stages of research careers, is crucial for an optimal psychological development of doctoral students. The GROW program has shown empirical evidence about its effectiveness to increase mental health in different setting groups (e.g., Tejada-Gallardo et al., 2020). A pilot study of a similar program for promoting well-being in PhD students (i.e., The Third Half) revealed the importance of implementing and evaluating evidence-based psychological interventions to support the mental health of researchers and create healthier workplaces in doctoral communities (Muro et al., 2022). Therefore, the present proposal aims to contribute to the mental health of early career researchers.