SynthesisApplied psychology. Health and well-being2025
A synthesis of RCTs on psychological interventions fostering strengths and virtues: Evidence from 21 systematic reviews.
Synthesis in Applied psychology. Health and well-being, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- A synthesis of RCTs on psychological interventions fostering strengths and virtues: Evidence from 21 systematic reviews.Applied psychology. Health and well-being · 2025Pooled it
- The Psychology of Fair Assessment: Mindfulness, Mental Health, and Grading Bias Among Senior High School Teachers in Ghana.Brain and behavior · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Research on mental health advocates the cultivation of character strengths to enhance well-being. Existing meta-analyses support positive correlations between strengths and well-being, and an increasing number of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have assessed the effects of interventions aimed at cultivating them. This pre-registered multiple systematic review of RCTs aims to map and synthesize evidence from these trials regarding the overall impact of such interventions on strengths and well-being. Based on Peterson and Seligman's Virtues in Action model, which groups 24 character strengths under 6 virtues as latent variables, we conducted searches for each character strength (21 in total), across four specialized databases, including gray literature. The included RCTs assessed the impact of virtue-based interventions with adult participants in studies including baseline and post-intervention measures of the targeted strength and well-being. After reviewing 61,479 abstracts, 162 RCTs were included representing 15 strengths grouped into the six virtues among 33,032 participants. In contrast, the interventions with the best evidence for increasing strengths and well-being were those that enhanced kindness, humor, hope, perspective, and gratitude. Our review revealed that there is a relative paucity of RCT studies in the field and a need to include robust outcome measures. While there is relatively robust evidence of the efficacy of RCTs to enhance certain character strengths and associated well-being, there is still insufficient evidence on the efficacy of most of the 24 strengths of Peterson and Seligman's model. We discuss implications of the findings and recommend guidelines for future research.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.