Date of Submission

2023

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Department

Psychology

Department Chair

Jessica Glass Kendorski, PhD, NCSP, BCBA-D

First Advisor

Katy E. Tresco, PhD

Second Advisor

Sharron Russell, MSW, PsyD

Third Advisor

George McCloskey, PhD

Abstract

Anxiety is among the most common mental health problems in children and adolescents in the United States (Bhatia & Goyal, 2018). Children and adolescents spend most of their day in the educational setting (Slemp et al., 2017). Positive education curricula may help students increase their well-being while increasing academic performance. This research aimed to determine the effectiveness of a positive education curriculum in lowering anxiety levels in high school students. In addition, this study investigated the relationship among anxiety, happiness, optimism, perseverance, and academic outcomes. Through an independent samples t-test, archival data were utilized to determine the relationship between participation in a positive educational curriculum related to anxiety levels and academic outcomes. In addition, a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to determine if participation in a positive education curriculum impacted specific types of anxiety. The study results concluded that there was no statistically significant difference in participation in a positive education curriculum on anxiety levels in students. However, there was a significant negative correlation between Optimism, Happiness, Perseverance, and anxiety. This study answers the question regarding the correlation between participation in a positive education and anxiety levels in students; however, further research is warranted to examine positive education curricula in more diverse settings.

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