A growth mindset could help maintain mental health in tough times

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2024-12-20 06:00

International

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People with a growth mindset - who believe our abilities, intelligence and other attributes are all changeable - are more likely to have better mental health in tough times, according to an international study during the COVID-19 pandemic. The researchers surveyed 454 people in the US at three points from 2020-2022, assessing whether their views aligned with a growth mindset and their mental health over the time period. The researchers say a growth mindset was associated with lower levels of depression and higher levels of wellbeing and adjustment to the change of routine during COVID-19. They say a second study focusing on 174 older adults supported this link. The researchers say a growth mindset is something that can be taught, and developing a growth mindset could potentially help people get through tough times.

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Journal/
conference: PLOS Mental Health

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: University of California, USA

Funder: This research was supported by an NSF RAPID grant (grant number BCS-2029575) and was also partially supported by an American Psychological Foundation Visionary Grant and an NSF CAREER Award (grant number BCS-1848026) awarded to RW. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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