Feeling supported by others helps explain the connection, researchers found, as AABMW’s free challenge carries participants through Thanksgiving.
By EEW Magazine Online Editors
A woman smiles with her hands pressed to her heart. New research links gratitude to feeling supported by others and to better well-being.
Hundreds of people have signed up for the 28-Day Gratitude Challenge, a Scripture-based initiative from the American Alliance for Black Mental Wellness (AABMW), according to the organization. The challenge, which launched Nov. 2, invites participants to spend time each day reflecting on Scripture, naming reasons to be thankful and looking for God’s goodness amid life’s difficulties.
The initiative arrives as new research examines why gratitude and well-being tend to go together. In a study published online Oct. 20 in the Journal of Happiness Studies, Carley Vornlocher of Arizona State University and Alexandra S. Wormley of the University of Michigan analyzed survey data from more than 148,000 people in 57 countries, including a group surveyed twice, a year apart.
People who reported more gratitude also tended to feel more supported by others. That support appeared to explain part of the connection between gratitude and better health and well-being, though the effects were relatively small. The study was observational, so it cannot show that gratitude causes better well-being. It also did not evaluate AABMW’s challenge, and the organization has not reported mental health outcomes among participants.
“AABMW is committed to fostering mental wellness in the Black community. Our team is excited to see women investing in themselves and prioritizing their own mental, emotional, and spiritual wellness at a time when it is needed more than ever,” the organization said in a statement.
New research links gratitude to feeling supported by others and to better well-being.
The challenge accompanies the release of Finding Gratitude in the Dark: 28 Days to See God’s Goodness More Clearly, a new devotional by author and mental health advocate Dianna Hobbs. Each of its 28 days pairs Scripture with biblical teaching and personal stories, followed by five gratitude prompts and a prayer.
The devotional grew out of a 28-day gratitude series Hobbs wrote in November 2019 for readers of her blog, Your Daily Cup of Inspiration. She wrote it while recovering from a traumatic brain injury that left her struggling with speech, movement and significant emotional challenges.
Hobbs is the founder and editor-in-chief of EEW Magazine Online and co-founded AABMW with her husband, Kenya Hobbs. AABMW published the devotional.
Registration for the challenge remains open and is free. Those who sign up receive a personal welcome letter from Hobbs, along with the book’s Introduction and Day One, including its Gratitude Practice and Prayer of Gratitude. Encouraging emails follow twice a week. Completing all 28 days requires a copy of the book. Participants who began on launch day will reach Day 25 on Thanksgiving, Nov. 26, and finish Nov. 29.
Register for the 28-Day Gratitude Challenge at GratitudeInTheDark.com. Finding Gratitude in the Dark is available on Amazon Kindle, with a paperback edition to follow.
