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Effectiveness of positive psychology interventions in promoting wellbeing in the Arab world: evidence from Saudi Arabia
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Date
2025
Authors
Basurrah, Asma A.
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Publisher
University College Cork
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Abstract
Background: The Arab region currently faces a high burden of mental health issues. Positive Psychology Interventions (PPIs) aim to enhance wellbeing and address mental health issues, offering a promising complementary approach to traditional interventions. Despite global interest in PPIs, their effectiveness within the Arab region, particularly in Saudi Arabia, remains unexplored. PPIs have primarily been developed and tested in Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) societies, raising questions about their generalisability. Furthermore, the lack of culturally validated measures limits the evaluation of such interventions. In particular, two widely used questionnaires, the Stress Mindset Measure (SMM), which assesses whether individuals hold a stress-is-enhancing or stress-is-debilitating mindset, and the PERMA-Profiler, which measures components of wellbeing (Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment), require cross-cultural validation.
Aim: This thesis addresses this gap by: 1) evaluating the effectiveness of PPIs in improving wellbeing and reducing distress in Arab countries, assessing the methodological quality of existing evidence, and identifying gaps in the research; 2) adapting and validating the psychometric properties of widely used psychological measures—the PERMA-Profiler and SMM—in a Saudi Arabian context; and 3) empirically testing the effectiveness of a culturally adapted gratitude-based PPI among young adults in Saudi Arabia.
Method: This thesis comprises four studies. Study 1 was a systematic review assessing the effects of PPIs in Arab countries. Findings from this review informed the design of the three empirical studies. Studies 2 and 3 validated the Arabic PERMA-Profiler and SMM, respectively, using two independent cross-sectional samples from Saudi Arabia. Both studies examined factorial validity, reliability, criterion validity, and measurement invariance across genders. Study 4 investigated the effectiveness of two culturally adapted gratitude interventions through a three-arm online Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) involving 441 Saudi female college students. Participants were randomly assigned to: (a) write gratitude letters and express your gratitude; (b) capture blessings through photography and written reflection; or (c) an active control group (mood monitoring) for four consecutive weeks. Measures included the SMM, academic engagement, wellbeing, depression, anxiety, and the PERMA-Profiler. These were assessed at baseline, immediately post-intervention and at a one-month follow-up.
Results: The systematic review included 44 experimental studies (n=3,598) demonstrating that PPIs can promote wellbeing and reduce depression, anxiety, and stress. However, it also highlighted key gaps: a lack of gratitude interventions, limited culturally adapted measures, and low methodological quality across studies.
Studies 2 and 3 confirmed that both the Arabic PERMA-Profiler and SMM are valid and reliable tools for adults in Saudi Arabia. The PERMA-Profiler supported a bi-factor Exploratory Structural Equation Modelling (ESEM) model, with a general wellbeing factor and two specific factors: Meaningful Accomplishments and Positive Experiences. It showed good reliability and concurrent validity; however, measurement invariance across genders was not established. The SMM supported a hierarchical ESEM model, with one higher-order factor of stress mindset and two first-order factors: Enhancing and Debilitating Mindsets. It demonstrated good reliability, concurrent validity with wellbeing indices, discriminant validity with conscientiousness, and measurement invariance across genders. In Study 4, 371 participants started the intervention, 134 completed the immediate post-intervention measures, and 88 completed the one-month follow-up. The RCT found that gratitude through capturing blessings (vs. control) had significant immediate effects on PERMA (p = .017). These effects were only short-term. While the gratitude interventions had no significant effects on wellbeing, engagement, or mental health issues, when controlling for baseline stress mindset, the gratitude letters group had significantly lower depression, anxiety, and stress scores than the control group. A high dropout rate limited the generalisability of the findings.
Conclusion: Overall, through a series of empirical studies, this thesis contributes to understanding the effectiveness and adaptation of PPIs within Arab cultural contexts. The findings offer methodological and practical insights, highlighting the importance of culturally relevant interventions, appropriate measurement tools and rigorous testing in promoting a more globally inclusive and evidence-based positive psychology.
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Controlled Access
Keywords
Positive psychology , Positive psychology interventions , Gratitude , Wellbeing , Mental health , Stress mindset , PERMA , Arab countries
Citation
Basurrah, A. A. M. 2025. Effectiveness of positive psychology interventions in promoting wellbeing in the Arab world: evidence from Saudi Arabia. PhD Thesis, University College Cork.