Abstract
Adolescents who are taught to embody a growth mindset in relation to intelligence and personality are more likely to have academic success and feel better about themselves. Adolescents who are taught that intelligence and personality can change with effort are more likely to view challenges as an opportunity for growth rather than as a setback. Studies examining the impact of various growth mindset interventions on high school students result in greater well-being and academic achievement. Creating a culture that fosters a growth mindset in the classroom and at home through various interventions and educational moments is necessary to raise adolescents who are healthy, well adjusted, and set up for success. In applying the growth mindset to coaching, a text-based intervention could help with weight management.
Keywords: Growth mindset, adolescence, positive psychology interventions, academics, mental health
Introduction
Teenage years are notorious for academic pressure, social ups and downs, and physical change during a time that sets the stage for independence and adulthood. Society’s interest in preparing adolescents to become healthy and productive individuals, makes this population ideal for interventions that promote a growth mindset. Growth mindset is a principle in positive psychology that people’s intelligence and abilities are able to develop with focused effort and are not fixed characteristics (Dweck, 2008). “Students can show greater motivation to learn when they are led to construe their learning situation as one in which they have the potential to develop their abilities” (Yeager, Romero, Paunesku, Hulleman, Schneider, Hinojosa,. . .Dweck, 2016).
Cultivating a student’s belief that he or she can improve intellectually and that set backs are an opportunity for growth, not only leads to greater academic achievement (Dweck, 2008), it also correlates to a positive emotional experience by reducing shame, increasing pride, and improving self-efficacy (Cook, Wildschut & Thomaes, 2017; Burnette, Russell, Hoyt, Orvidas & Widman, 2018). Creating a culture that fosters a growth mindset in the classroom and at home through various interventions and educational moments is necessary to raise adolescents who are healthy, well adjusted, and set up for success. According to the pioneer researcher, Carol Dweck, adolescents who hold a fixed mindset believe that their intelligence is static and cannot be changed; moreover, they believe that any setback or challenge is an indication of their own incompetence and unworthiness correlating to higher levels of depression (Dweck, 2008, p.28).
A review of the literature in applications of growth mindset with adolescents yields many different ways of how to implement growth mindset and the effect it can have on them. This paper will look at how various positive psychology interventions of growth mindset are being introduced to adolescents including through teaching malleability of intelligence and personality in different forms of computer-based education, and text messaging positive affirmations. While there is not one conclusive positive psychology intervention (PPI), parents and teachers concerned with developing adolescents who are happy, well-adjusted, and academically successful are recommended to create a culture that fosters a growth mindset.
Research Question
How is growth mindset as a positive psychology intervention being applied to adolescents? What effect does teaching a growth mindset in school have on adolescents?
Growth Mindset Interventions for Intelligence
The “original” growth mindset PPI
Growth mindsets have been found to predict educational outcomes as defined by a psychological process that helps inform students’ decision making (Yeager, Romero, Paunesku, Hulleman, Schneider, Hinojosa, . . . Dweck, 2016). There are many ways to teach growth mindset to adolescents and in a study about how to improve growth mindset interventions, the authors cite the “original” mindset intervention as composed of several parts. First the participant reads a four-page article written by researchers, “You Can Grow Your Intelligence” that explains how intelligence can increase growth as the more the brain is challenged the more neural networks are formed in the brain. The second part of the intervention asks the participant to recall a time when they did not know something and then through practice, obtained that knowledge. The third part incorporates the proven notion that “saying is believing” and asks the student to write a letter to a struggling student to encourage them (Yeager et al., 2016, p.376).
Revised Intervention
After Yeager et al., (2016) revised the growth mindset intervention using user centered design and A/B testing (ie, 2-sample hypothesis testing) and they found it resulted in improved proxy outcomes such as better grades for previously low achieving students as well as improved attitudes and beliefs about learning for both low and high performers compared to the original PPI.
The revised online program was improved in both content and format. Content differences included quotes from celebrities or adults whom adolescents could look up to, more writing exercises, inclusion of why one would want to improve their intelligence, and revealing actual data from previous mindset studies, rather than just summarizing the data. Format differences included replacing paragraphs with bullet points to abbreviate the amount of information on one page and presenting the intervention in two one-period online sessions during school hours, 1-4 weeks apart rather than in one session (Yeager et al, 2016, p.377).
Additional changes that were made based on A/B testing included changing language to focus only on growth mindset and tone down direct discussion on fixed mindset which revealed to exacerbate students with an existing fixed mindset. As was shown in research by Dweck (2008), strengthening the growth mindset can lead to more rigid thinking, less enjoyment of learning, and low emotional wellbeing. The updated PPI also includes teaching students to replace comparing themselves with others with comparing themselves from now and how they can be in the future; de-emphasizes the notion of “hard work” and replacing it with strategy; uses language that is group oriented rather than so independent to foster the idea of a growth mindset culture; and increased writing exercises to capitalize on the notion that “saying is believing” (Yeager et al., 2016, p.397).
Results
Researchers can use proxy outcomes such as behavior, beliefs, goals, attributes, attitudes, motivation to learn, and learning efficacy to determine shifts in growth mindset and then predict educational success (Yeager et al., 2016; Burnette, Russell, Hoyt, Orvidas & Widman, 2018). Compared to the original intervention, Yeager et al., (2016) found that the updated growth mindset intervention increased the tendency for students to choose harder math problems and report additional behaviors that indicate growth mindset (n=7501). Once they concluded that the updated intervention produced better results than the original, they investigated whether the redesign could actually improve grades. In the second study, they found that the PPI improved grades for low achieving students compared to the control (n=3676) while already high achieving students self-reported increased growth mindset as well as improved proxy behavioral outcomes but not higher grades. Limitations of this study include short-term grade assessment so it is unknown if the intervention impacted academic performance long term. Additionally, it is unknown if the schools from where the students were selected can be generalized to other high schools.
Growth Mindset Interventions for Personality
Impact on academic performance
The outcomes of a growth mindset PPI positively affecting academic performance are corroborated in a previous study examining how a growth minset intervention to teach 9th graders that personalities are malleable leads to less social adversity, less stress, better physical health, and improved academic performance (Yeager, Johnson, Spitzer, Trzesnieski, Powers & Dweck, 2014). The correlation with growth mindset and academic achievement seems to span across applications of growth mindset PPIs. While the first study discussed in this paper taught adolescents that their intelligence is not fixed, Yeager et al., (2014) in their earlier study taught that personality is not fixed and saw similar outcomes that also predicted better grades and college attendance. Interestingly they found that the growth mindset intervention on personality impacted academic performance for both rural and suburban students who place more emphasis on traits rather than behavior.
Impact on anxiety and depression
Utlizing the theory that growth mindset personality interventions provide adolescents with a framework to cope with social stressors that commonly lead to dysregulation during teen years (Schleider and Weisz, 2018, p.161) led Schleider and Weisz (2018) to research if growth mindset could address implicit beliefs and mitigate symptoms of depression and anxiety. The researchers conducted a study where they taught growth mindset in personality traits to adolescents between the ages of 12-15 (n=96) to see if it could reduce depression and anxiety symptoms. Participants in the experimental group received a 30-minute computer-based mindset intervention while the control received a therapy-based intervention. There were five elements to the intervention:
1. Didactic on the concept of neuroplasticity and the connection between behavior, thoughts, and feelings.
2. Quotes and testimonials from older adolescents that people can change.
3. More stories from older adolescents about times they used growth mindset to cope with feelings of hopelessness, embarrassment and rejection.
4. A lesson on how to use the strategies to apply to the participants own life.
5. An exercise where the participant writes a note to a younger child to teach them about the plasticity of personality and how to cope with challenges (p.163).
The control group received a four-part intervention that educated them on the role of emotions and communication including a writing exercise about how the participant would feel after hypothetical situations.
Depressive symptoms were measured using the Child Depression Inventory (CDI) with item scores 0-2 and higher scores indicating severe symptoms. Anxiety symptoms were measured using the Screen for Child Anxiety and Related Disorders-Child (SCARED-C) version with item scores 0-2 and higher scores indicated severe anxiety.
Results
Parents reporting on their children’s depression symptoms above the CDI clinical cutoff from baseline to 9 months later decreased by 55.6% while the youth reports decreased by 33.32%. This was a significantly more valuable outcome than the control group where parents reported a decrease in depressive symptoms by 9.7% and youths reported 10.9%. Parents reporting their children’s anxiety levels above the SCARED-C clinical cutoff had a decrease from baseline to 9 months of 71.0% and youths reported 31.0% while the control group had a 42.9% decline reported by parents and 17.7% at the follow up. While the trends were promising, the actual point changes were modest. This one 30-minute intervention provided a difference in depressive and anxiety symptoms from baseline compared to other single session-interventions (SSI), which indicated that a computer-based program could be a scalable and effective way of teaching growth mindset and malleability of personalities to support mental health in adolescents.
Limitations of this study include the variance in responses from parents and youths as well as determining what is the most effective distribution of the SSI. For example, outcomes may be better if the SSI is 45 minutes rather than 30, or if it is divided into two sessions. Further investigation is needed.
Mechanism of Impact
The participants in both Yaeger et al., (2014, 2016) studies were racially diverse and in 9th grade. This is an important factor as the 9th grade is a transitional year where students are adjusting and adapting to a new school environment, social stressors and new expectations. A meta-analysis on mindset showed that when a person faces ego-threats such as challenges and transitions, there is a stronger link to growth mindset development in the proxy outcomes such as self-control and emotional regulation, which lead to predictability of goal achievement (Burnette, O’boyle, VanEpps, Pollack & Finkel, 2013) such as striving for higher GPAs. It may be that the transitional time of starting high school presents challenges that are affecting psychological processes, and thus behaviors and school performance. Yaeger et al., (2014) state that, “…the changes common to the transition to high school—the increased uncertainty of peer relationships, the heightened preoccupation with peer relationships, and the growing view of personality traits as fixed—make it an appropriate developmental period to test whether the effects of implicit theories of personality generalize beyond reactions to social adversity and extend to adjustment in multiple domains of functioning” (p.869). The growth mindset intervention, whether it comes to intelligence or personality, offers students a way to think of themselves differently during this challenging time. The nature of 9th grade inherently produces for most adolescents a gap between where they currently are emotionally and socially and where they want to be. The growth mindset intervention offers adolescents a bridge to close that gap. The mechanism of closing the gap or overcoming a challenge may be why the higher achieving students show an increase in proxy outcomes but not in grades; they do not have a big enough gap to increase their grades the way that the lower achieving students do.
Growth mindset is realized by a positive change to neuropathways (Ng, 2018), which can change over time, making time and repetition of the growth mindset message a mechanism of growth mindset PPIs. “Research has suggested that one-off interventions to develop growth mindset thinking only have a short-term impact…” (Fraser, 2017, p.655). The repetition of messaging over time is one theory to account for the improved results from a PPI that spans over many class periods. These growth mindset teachings are thus ingrained in the culture (Fraser, 2018).
Conclusions
It is valuable to have parents and teachers who embrace a growth mindset to be able to teach this way of thinking and being to adolescents. Adolescents who are exposed to the concept of growth mindset or the malleability of intelligence and personality, feel more confident, less stress, and experience fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression. It appears that the longer the exposure to this mindset, the greater the positive impact on academic performance and mental health. This intervention is especially effective for individuals who have a greater discrepancy in where they are and where they want to be both academically and emotionally. Adolescents who are taught to identify growth and fixed mindsets can grow into well-adjusted adults who have higher levels of happiness and more likely to thrive even in the face of adversity.
Applications
Growth mindset indicates that adolescents have a greater motivation to take on challenge and can find pleasure in challenges (Dweck, 2008). This indication could be leveraged in behavior modification techniques for weight management. In a study intending to increase positive affect (PA) using positive psychology interventions to improve adherence and health for adolescents with Type 1 diabetes, the researchers built on the theory that with generating pleasurable feelings via text messages, outcomes could improve. Additionally, high PA is associated with not just positive behavior, but also better glycemic control and predicts improved glycemic control over a 6-month period (Bergner, Whittemore, Patel, Slavin, Hamburger, & Jaser, 2018). In the study (n=63) adolescents received interactive texts related to gratitude and positive-affirmations over an 8- week period. Though the study does not discuss the behavioral health outcomes of the text-based intervention, the results indicate that parents (91%) and adolescents (74%) engaged, enjoyed, and implemented the messaging immediately.
Direct Application to Weight-Management Coaching
Given the receptivity by adolescents to engage with PA via text, it is possible that growth mindset messaging about personality and weight could be sent via text to adolescents to facilitate improvement in proxy outcomes such as eating more fruits and vegetables, exercising more, cooking, and positive body image. In my work with adolescents and weight management, I could create a series of text messages to teach growth mindset in the context of healthy behaviors. Examples of possible texts could be, “It doesn’t matter what you’ve done in the past, you have the control and ability to make healthy choices at any moment”; or “A growth mindset can help you see your challenges around health as an opportunity for growth. Can you think of a time when you proved to yourself you could do something that originally thought you couldn’t?”; “What would your advice be to someone who wants to start exercising?”
Incorporating a text schedule that incorporates education, positive affirmations, and brief exercises to teach growth mindset in conjunction with coaching could potentially improve sustained weight loss in the adolescent population.
References
Bergner, E. M., Whittemore, R., Patel, N. J., Savin, K. L., Hamburger, E. R., & Jaser, S. S. (2018). Participants’ experience and engagement in check it!: A positive psychology intervention for adolescents with type 1 diabetes. Translational Issues in Psychological Science, 4(3), 215-227. doi:http://dx.doi.org.tcsedsystem.idm.oclc.org/10.1037/tps0000161
Burnette, J. L., O'Boyle, E. H., VanEpps, E. M., Pollack, J. M., & Finkel, E. J. (2013). Mind-sets matter: A meta-analytic review of implicit theories and self-regulation. Psychological Bulletin, 139(3), 655-701. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0029531
Dweck, C. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York, NY: Ballantine Books.
Fraser, D. M. (2018). An exploration of the application and implementation of growth mindset principles within a primary school. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 88(4), 645-658. doi:http://dx.doi.org.tcsedsystem.idm.oclc.org/10.1111/bjep.12208
Ng, B. (2018). The Neuroscience of Growth Mindset and Intrinsic Motivation. Brain sciences, 8(2), 20. doi:10.3390/brainsci8020020
Schleider, J., Weisz, J., (2017). A single‐session growth mindset intervention for adolescent anxiety and depression: 9‐month outcomes of a randomized trial. The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 59(2). https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.12811
Yeager, D. S., Johnson, R., Spitzer, B. J., Trzesniewski, K. H., Powers, J., & Dweck, C. S. (2014). The far-reaching effects of believing people can change: Implicit theories of personality shape stress, health, and achievement during adolescence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 106(6), 867-884. doi:http://dx.doi.org.tcsedsystem.idm.oclc.org/10.1037/a0036335
Yeager, D. S., Romero, C., Paunesku, D., Hulleman, C. S., Schneider, B., Hinojosa, C., . . . Dweck, C. S. (2016). Using design thinking to improve psychological interventions: The case of the growth mindset during the transition to high school. Journal of Educational Psychology, 108(3), 374-391. doi:http://dx.doi.org.tcsedsystem.idm.oclc.org/10.1037/edu0000098
댓글