{"id":1057,"date":"2022-12-05T16:25:06","date_gmt":"2022-12-05T16:25:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/edpsych\/?p=1057"},"modified":"2022-12-05T16:25:06","modified_gmt":"2022-12-05T16:25:06","slug":"the-benefits-of-childrens-gratitude-identifying-mediators-and-designing-a-new-measure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/edpsych\/2022\/12\/05\/the-benefits-of-childrens-gratitude-identifying-mediators-and-designing-a-new-measure\/","title":{"rendered":"The Benefits of Children\u2019s Gratitude: Identifying Mediators and Designing a New Measure"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Assignment type:<\/strong>&nbsp;Thesis<br \/>\n<strong>Author:<\/strong> Sophie Smith<br \/>\n<strong>Submitted:<\/strong> October 2021<\/p>\n<p><strong>Abstract<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>School-based gratitude interventions show evidence of enhancing student well-being but there is limited research suggesting how gratitude increases well-being. There is also the need for a suitable tool to measure children\u2019s gratitude and evaluate the impact of gratitude interventions. The researcher sought to address these literature gaps. A systematic literature review was used to address the question \u2018which variables mediate the association between young people\u2019s gratitude and well-being?\u2019. Stronger evidence was found for cognitive and social resources as mediators, compared to mediators related to affect. A lack of experimental and longitudinal studies in the current evidence base was identified, highlighting avenues for future research.<\/p>\n<p>In an empirical study, the researcher designed and screened a new questionnaire of children\u2019s gratitude, the Questionnaire of Appreciation in Youth (QUAY). Items were developed using the literature to identify a comprehensive definition of gratitude and its key features, and through discussion with the research supervisors who have extensive experience of studying gratitude. The initial items were screened in a focus group with three children aged eight to nine. Exploratory factor analysis was then conducted with responses from 107 children aged eight to 10. This led to the development of an 11-item scale with good reliability and convergent validity with an existing measure of gratitude, the GQ-6. A three-factor structure was retained, with subscales addressing gratitude, appreciation, and sense of privilege. Limitations include the lack of a more diverse sample, the absence of reverse-scored items, positive skew in responses, and the need to establish discriminant validity. Implications include new insights into the structure of children\u2019s gratitude, providing a working tool which could be further developed in order to measure children\u2019s gratitude more effectively.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/eprints.soton.ac.uk\/454332\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Download thesis (PDF) via ePrints Soton<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Assignment type:&nbsp;Thesis Author: Sophie Smith Submitted: October 2021 Abstract School-based gratitude interventions show evidence of enhancing student well-being but there is limited research suggesting how gratitude increases well-being. There is also the need for a suitable tool to measure children\u2019s &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/edpsych\/2022\/12\/05\/the-benefits-of-childrens-gratitude-identifying-mediators-and-designing-a-new-measure\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58097,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1003894],"tags":[158623,4054],"class_list":["post-1057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gratitude","tag-research-project","tag-thesis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/edpsych\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/edpsych\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/edpsych\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/edpsych\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/58097"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/edpsych\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1057"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/edpsych\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1057\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1058,"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/edpsych\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1057\/revisions\/1058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/edpsych\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/edpsych\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/edpsych\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}