Exploration of a Professional Journal - Paper Sample

Introduction

For this assignment, I have selected a journal titled Positive psychology interventions: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled studies. It is a research article for BMC Public Health. I know it is an analysis of a professional issue research article. It meets the description of the research article. It has a set of systematic records kept by the researcher Bolier et al. (2013), and it reflects the issues around positive psychology. In this case, positive psychology is a professional issue. It is also original research. The article contains the original ideas of the researcher. These ideas include a full introduction to the article, methods of research, the results, discussion, and conclusion of the article. Applied research is carried out in the article. To be specific, it is qualitative research that looks to interpret why and how certain aspects of psychology behave.

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Effectiveness of Positive Psychology

The purpose of the article is to analyze the effectiveness of positive psychology interventions for the general public and individuals with specific psychological problems. The method of analysis involves the use of a systematic literature search of over 40 articles and positive psychology interventions. From the article, I have learned that in the past, like a few years, psychological medications of conditions like depression and anxiety have been continually made. The effectiveness of the medication given has been accessed through therapy groups. An example of such therapies is in problem-solving therapy, interpersonal therapy, and communicational therapy. It is, however, a challenge that instead of finding ways to prevent the development of psychological conditions, the focus is given to the treatment.

The article, in its introduction, well-being, and positive functioning, are core elements of mental health. Mental health has been defined as the state of well-being in which an individual realizes their abilities. The author, however, states that the definition of mental health looks the fact that an individual may be free of mental illness but still be unhappy and dysfunctional. Similarly, people with mental illness may be happy and enjoy their life by coping well with their conditions. The study, therefore, disputes the idea of relating mental health and psychology to well-being alone. Instead, suggest the relationship of mental health with positive psychology interventions like counting blessings, setting personal goals, practicing gratitude and kindness, among other interventions.

Limitations

From the introduction, I have also learned that there have been several limitations in the meta-analysis. The treatment effects of psychotherapy have been overestimated in lower quality studies. Many researches have been done; of them, most are lower quality research that overestimates the effects of mental health treatment. The researches have shown that the effects of psychological medication are very adverse, yet that is not the case. Another limitation is the lack of clarity in inclusion criteria. The inclusion of other studies related to the topic was included in the meta-analysis. However, the inclusion of these studies reduced the robustness of pure results in psychological interventions. The last problem encountered in the research is the inclusion of both randomized studies and quasi-experimental studies. Results would be effective if only one of the two studies was carried out.

As said earlier, the method used for the study is a systematic literature search. From the method of research used, I have learned that after analyzing several pieces of literature, 84 were included in the study. For each study, they calculated the effect sizes. Results were then presented in a table format. The findings of the research prove that positive psychology interventions significantly enhance subjective and psychological well-being and reduce depressive symptoms on people who have a mental illness. The mean effects of psychological inventions on the well-being of people with mental health were in small to moderate numbers. Numerically, the mean effects were fond of being 0.34 on mental well-being and 0.23 on depression.

Characteristics

The study discussion also shows that several characteristics of the moderated the effects on depressive symptoms. Larger effects on depression and well-being were found in interventions that required long durations, while shorter effects are experienced when shorter durations are taken. So, for effective results to be achieved, psychological patients should be exposed to longer interventions like therapy and self-help groups. The quality rating also proved to moderate the effects of depression. The higher the quality rating, the least the effects of depression and vice versa.

Several characteristics of the study moderated the effect on depressive symptoms. Larger effects were found in interventions with a longer duration, in individual interventions (compared with self-help), when the interventions were offered to people with certain psychosocial problems and when recruitment was carried out via referral from a health care professional or hospital. The quality rating also moderated the effect on depression. Quality rating is the criteria used by psychologists to evaluate how best a patient is reciprocating to medication. The higher the quality, the smaller the effects of depression on the patient.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the study demonstrates that positive intervention can be effective in the enhancement of subjective and psychological and psychological well-being as well as help reduce depressive symptoms levels. Positive intervention includes actions like taking physical activities, meditation, imagines self-technique, among many other activities. Psychologists should, therefore, make use of this conclusion in the treatment of mental conditions. The research findings can also be used in the improvement of future research. The researchers challenged future researchers to come up with high quality studies and more studies in clinical populations and then diverse intervention formats to know how the interventions work for different people.

References

Bolier, L., Haverman, M., Westerhof, G. J., Riper, H., Smit, F., & Bohlmeijer, E. (2013). Positive psychology interventions: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled studies. BMC public health, 13(1), 119.