A new study published in Nature Human Behaviour looked at well-being-focused interventions.
“This study looks at a wide range of interventions designed to improve well-being,” study author Dr. Lowri Sian Wilkie told us. “Instead of focusing only on psychological approaches, we took a broader, interdisciplinary view that also includes physical activity, mind body practices, and nature based interventions.”
Dr. Wilkie and the research team wanted to understand how these different approaches compare with one another, using evidence from randomized controlled trials, and to give people a clearer sense of the range of evidence-informed options available for supporting well-being.
“The work was guided by the GENIAL framework of well-being, which views wellbeing as emerging from connection to self (both mind and body), connection to other people, and connection to nature,” Dr. Wilkie told us. “We expected that interventions touching on these different areas would all be important, but we did not go in with a clear ranking of which approaches would perform best.”
As researchers working in well-being science, Dr. Wilkie explained they are increasingly aware that real life wellbeing does not sit neatly within one discipline and that psychological, physical, social, and environmental factors are closely intertwined.
“We wanted our research to reflect that reality, and to move beyond narrow comparisons towards a more holistic picture of what actually supports well-being,” Dr. Wilkie told us.
The research team systematically reviewed randomized controlled trials that tested interventions aimed at improving subjective well-being. These trials are often considered the gold standard for evaluating whether an intervention works. They then used network meta-analysis, a method that allows many different types of interventions to be compared within a single framework, even when they have not all been directly compared in individual studies.
The researchers found that most interventions were linked with improvements in well-being compared with doing nothing. The strongest effects were seen for interventions that combined physical activity with a psychological component. Mind body approaches showed steady, reliable benefits, physical activity alone performed similarly to many psychological interventions, and positive psychology interventions were also effective.
“One of the more interesting findings was just how well combined approaches performed,” Dr. Wilkie told us. “It makes intuitive sense that working through both the body and the mind would be beneficial, but it was still striking to see how consistently this showed up across such a large body of evidence. It also highlights opportunities for better integration across settings that traditionally focus on either mental or physical health.”
Dr. Wilkie believes the findings suggest that supporting wellbeing can be looked upon more flexibly and that when there may not be a single solution that works for everyone, there are multiple effective pathways. Approaches that blend movement, psychological skills, and possibly connection with nature may be especially promising, both for research and for real world application.
“A key takeaway is that well-being does not have to come from one specific type of intervention,” Dr. Wilkie told us. “Everyday activities can be powerful when they are used intentionally and consistently. Giving people more choice and flexibility may be just as important as identifying the single ‘best’ approach.”
Categories: Anxiety , Mental Health Awareness , Wellness | Tags: wellbeing, mental health, anxiety