Can an online class teach you to be happy?

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2022-02-17 06:00

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An online psychology course taken for credit at a UK university may have helped its students navigate the stress and anxiety caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to international researchers. 'The Science of Happiness’ course was delivered over 11 weeks, online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and covered a range of theories around promoting wellbeing. The researchers asked the students to complete a survey on their wellbeing before and after the course, and compared the results with students on the waiting list for the course who had yet to take it. The researchers say students who took the course appeared to have stable levels of mental wellbeing and anxiety, while a decline in mental well-being and an increase in anxiety was recorded for those who hadn't taken the course. The researchers note this was not a 'gold standard' randomised controlled trial, and their results may be limited by a lack of diversity among the students who took the course.

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Journal/
conference: PLOS ONE

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: University of Bristol, UK

Funder: This work was supported by a grant awarded jointly by the Elizabeth Blackwell Institute, University of Bristol and the Rosetrees Trust (grant code: R105121-248). The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

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