The effects of positive psychology interventions on well-being and distress in patients with cardiovascular diseases: A systematic review and Meta-analysis

Objective
Positive psychology interventions (PPIs) have been found to be effective for psychiatric and somatic disorders. However, a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies examining the effectiveness of PPIs for patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD) is lacking. This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to synthesize studies examining the effectiveness of PPIs and to examine their effects on mental well-being and distress using meta-analyses.

Methods
This study was preregistered on OSF (https://osf.io/95sjg/). A systematic search was performed in PsycINFO, PubMed and Scopus. Studies were included if they examined the effectiveness of PPIs on well-being for patients with CVD. Quality assessment was based on the Cochrane tool for assessing risk of bias. Three-level mixed-effects meta-regression models were used to analyze effect sizes of randomized controlled trials (RCTs).

Results
Twenty studies with 1222 participants were included, of which 15 were RCTs. Included studies showed high variability in study and intervention characteristics. Meta-analyses showed significant effects for mental well-being (β = 0.33) and distress (β = 0.34) at post-intervention and the effects were still significant at follow-up. Five of the 15 RCTs were classified as having fair quality, while the remaining had low quality.

Conclusion
These results suggest that PPIs are effective in improving well-being and distress in patients with CVD and could therefore be a valuable addition for clinical practice. However, there is a need for more rigorous studies that are adequately powered and that help us understand what PPIs are most effective for which patient.