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

压力事件的经历，如生活转变和苛刻的生活方式，可能对心理健康和幸福有害。这个问题在青春期，在向成年生活过渡的过程中更加严重。我们之前的研究表明，在青春期提供的短期积极心理学干预可以抵消压力事件的负面影响，通过关注性格优势、积极情绪体验、希望和生活意义来提供保护，从而有效地促进心理健康。然而，很少有青少年有机会获得积极心理学干预。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。这个项目的目的是开发和验证一个开源的智能手机应用程序（PositiveBalance），能够为广大受众支持青少年的积极心理学干预。我们将重点关注一般人群中的一个群体，他们可以特别从这种干预中受益，因为他们在青春期暴露于压力事件：职业舞蹈学校的舞者，他们经历了快速过渡到成年生活，同时暴露于高期望和苛刻的生活方式，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学干预（基于培养自尊、希望、乐观、自我同情）调整为数字格式，吸引青少年。首先，我们会亲自进行积极心理学干预。为了检验干预的有效性，我们将比较对照组和实验组在干预前后的心理健康和幸福感。结果和参与者的反馈将用于使干预措施适应数字格式，并为第二队列改进积极平衡应用程序。在第二年，面对面的积极心理学干预将与通过应用程序提供的数字活动交替进行，比较面对面和数字传递的效果。我们还将与之前的队列进行数字化互动，以测试后续数字化活动的效果。我们将根据参与者的反馈对应用进行完善，进一步提高应用的可用性。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，并评估后续数字化干预的潜在优势。该项目将与两个非学术合作伙伴合作，他们是舞蹈培训领域的世界领导者：皇家芭蕾舞学校和英国国家芭蕾舞学校。这些学校提倡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，该项目将受益于能够接触到反映各种文化需要的国际青少年群体。此外，由于这一人群可能会继续保持苛刻的生活方式，参与者将受益于在职业生涯中使用Positive Balance应用程序，有助于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制积极心理学活动，并通过招募，空间可用性和结果传播来手动干预。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.