Positive balance: Digital technology support for mental health and well-being during adolescence

经历有压力的事件，如生活的转变和苛刻的生活方式，可能会对心理健康和福祉有害。这个问题在青春期，在过渡到成年生活的过程中加剧。我们之前的研究表明，在青春期进行的短期积极心理干预可以抵消应激事件的负面影响，通过吸引人们对性格优势、积极情绪的经历、生活中的希望和意义的关注来提供保护，从而有效地促进心理健康。然而，很少有青少年能够获得积极的心理干预。这个问题可以通过向更广泛的受众开放的数字技术来解决。该项目的目的是开发和验证一个开源智能手机应用程序(PositiveBalance)，该应用程序能够为广泛的受众支持青春期的积极心理干预。我们将重点关注普通人群中特别能从这种干预中受益的一个群体，因为他们在青春期暴露在压力事件中：职业舞蹈学校的舞者，他们经历了快速过渡到成年生活，同时暴露在高期望和苛刻的生活方式中，通常来自他们的家庭。通过以用户为中心的方法，我们将把面对面的积极心理干预(基于培养自尊、希望、乐观和自我同情)适应数字形式，面向青少年。首先，我们将进行面对面的积极心理干预。为了检验干预的有效性，我们将比较对照组和实验组干预前后的心理健康和幸福感。结果和参与者的反馈将被用来使干预适应数字格式，并为第二个队列改进正平衡应用程序。在第二年，面对面的积极心理干预将与通过APP交付的数字活动交替进行，比较亲自交付和数字交付的效果。我们还将与之前的队列进行数字化接触，以测试后续数字化活动的效果。我们将根据参与者的反馈意见对APP进行细化，进一步提高APP的易用性。在第三年，我们将通过APP提供整个干预，比较面对面/部分数字化/完全数字化交付的效果，并评估后续数字干预的潜在优势。该项目将与两个非学术合作伙伴合作进行，这两个合作伙伴是舞蹈培训领域的世界领先者：皇家芭蕾舞学校和英国国家芭蕾舞学校。这些学校倡导心理健康和健康的生活方式培训。通过与伙伴机构的保健管理人员密切合作，该项目将受益于接触到反映各种文化需求的国际青少年群体。此外，由于这一群体可能会继续过着苛刻的生活方式，参与者将受益于在职业生活中使用积极平衡应用程序，有助于该项目的影响和长期验证。我们的合作伙伴将支持我们为舞者量身定做积极心理学活动，并通过招募、空间可获得性和结果传播来实现干预。该项目将对舞者产生直接影响，并将提供评估和改进积极心理学和心理健康数字干预所需的基本证据。

Experience with stressful events, such as life transitions and a demanding lifestyle can be detrimental to mental health and well-being. This problem is exacerbated in adolescence, during the transition to adult life. We previously showed that short positive psychology interventions delivered during adolescence can counteract the negative effects of stressful events, offering protection by drawing attention to character strengths, experiences of positive emotions, hope and meaning in life, thus effectively promoting psychological well-being. However, few adolescents have access to positive psychology interventions. This issue can be addressed with digital technologies open to a broader audience. The aim of this project is to develop and validate an open-source smartphone app (PositiveBalance) able to support positive psychology interventions in adolescence for a wide audience. We will focus on a group in the general population that can particularly benefit from this intervention, because exposed to stressful events during adolescence: dancers in vocational dance schools, that experience a quick transition to adult life while being exposed to high expectations and a demanding lifestyle, often from their family. Though a user-centred approach, we will adapt an in-person positive psychology intervention(based on fostering self-esteem, hope, optimism, self-compassion) to the digital format, engaging for adolescents.First, we will run an in-person positive psychology intervention. To test for efficacy of the intervention, we will compare mental health and well-being before and after the intervention in control and experimental groups. Results and participants' feedback will be used to adapt the intervention to the digital format and to refine the Positive Balance app for the second cohort. In the second year, the in-person positive psychology intervention will be alternated with digital activities delivered via the app, comparing the effect of in-person and digital delivery. We will also digitally engage with the previous cohort, to test the efficacy of follow-up digital activities. We will refine the app based on participants' feedback, further improving app usability. In the third year, we will deliver the entire intervention via the app, compare the efficacy of in-person/partially digital/fully digital delivery and evaluate the potential advantages of follow-up digital interventions. The project will be run in collaboration with two non-academic partners, world leaders in the field of dance training: The Royal Ballet School and The English National Ballet School. These schools are advocates for mental health and a healthy lifestyle training. Through close collaboration with the health managers in the partner institutions, the project will benefit from access to an international cohort of adolescents, reflecting the needs of a variety of cultures. Moreover, since this population is likely to continue with a demanding lifestyle, participants will benefit from using the Positive Balance app during professional life, contributing to the impact of the project and long-term validation. Our partners will support us in tailoring the positive psychology activities to the dancers and manualising the intervention, with recruitment, space availability, and in outcome dissemination. The project will have a direct impact on the dancers and will provide fundamental evidence needed to evaluate and improve positive psychology and mental health digital interventions.