Gratitude Interventions: Effective Self‑help? A Meta‑analysis of the Impact on Symptoms of Depression and Anxiety

Research suggests gratitude interventions—designed to increase appreciation of positive qualities, situations, and people in one’s life—may improve psychological well-being (e.g., Seligman et al. in Am Psychol 60:410–421, 2005. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003- 066X.60.5.410). Accordingly, mental health practitioners have promoted gratitude interventions as a means of self-help. However, results from previous reviews suggest that well-being improvements associated with gratitude interventions may be attributable to placebo efects (Davis et al. in J Couns Psychol 63:20–31, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1037/ cou0000107; Wood et al. in Clin Psychol Rev 30:890–905, 2010, https://doi.org/10.1016/j. cpr.2010.03.005). With this meta-analysis, we examined the efcacy of gratitude interventions (k=27, N=3675) in reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety at post-test and follow-up periods. Gratitude interventions had a small efect on symptoms of depression and anxiety at both post-test (g=−0.29, SE=0.06, p<.01) and follow-up (g=−0.23, SE=0.06, p<.01). Correcting for attenuation from unreliability did not change results. Moderation analyses indicated efect sizes were larger for studies using waitlist, rather than active, control conditions at post-test and follow-up. We did not fnd consistent evidence for efects of other moderator variables (e.g., risk of bias, depressive symptom severity, or type of intervention used). Our results suggest the efects of gratitude interventions on symptoms of depression and anxiety are relatively modest. Therefore, we recommend individuals seeking to reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety engage in interventions with stronger evidence of efcacy for these symptoms.