Journal of Happiness and Health

University students constitute a vulnerable population regarding mental health challenges, a situation often exacerbated by systemic stressors during global crises. This mixed-methods study investigates the efficacy of Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) as a proactive positive health intervention to enhance self-regulation and psychological well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conducted in accordance with institutional ethical standards and based on voluntary participation, this study utilized a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design with 100 university students. During the initial lockdown, psychological distress was measured via the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21), alongside the collection of written accounts to capture participants' subjective experiences. Quantitative analysis using Repeated Measures MANOVA revealed a statistically significant reduction in psychological distress with a large effect size following at least seven days of PMR practice. Complementing these results, thematic analysis elucidated that PMR fosters positive health through dual pathways; psychological relief via emotional and cognitive regulation, and physical restoration through improved sleep quality and somatic relaxation. Crucially, the qualitative findings identified specific cues of action related to the timing, consistency, and progressive structure of the exercise, which served as vital moderators for subjective well-being. The findings suggest a strong congruence between quantitative symptom reduction and qualitative pathways to resilience, concluding that PMR is an accessible self-regulation strategy that promotes sustainable psychological growth and positive health in university settings.

Online mood induction procedures (MIPs) for happiness have shown inconsistent and often modest effects, and the potential benefit of personalizing such inductions remains unclear. This study evaluated an online, film-based MIP that targeted three orientations to happiness: engagement, meaning, and pleasure. This study further investigated whether matching film clips to participants’ dominant orientations to happiness enhanced the effectiveness of the MIP. Data was collected via MTurk. Participants (N = 166) were randomly assigned to a matched condition, in which they watched a film clip that targeted their dominant orientation(s) to happiness, or an unmatched condition. Mixed ANOVA was used to test the hypothesis that happiness can be induced via an online, film-based MIP and that a matched film MIP would be more effective at inducing happiness than an unmatched film MIP.  Results indicated that happiness can be induced online, but the effect size is modest (d = 0.43). A sizeable proportion of the sample did not report an increase in happiness. In primary analyses including all participants, increases in happiness did not differ between matched and unmatched conditions. These results corroborate recent findings that online positive or happiness inductions are effective but underscore the importance of considering success rate in study analyses and sample size planning. These results also contribute to the growing database of film clips validated to induce positive affect in an online setting. Future research is needed to identify factors that may enhance the effect of positive affect MIPs.