Dr. Jennifer Lerner, the Thornton F. Bradshaw Professor of Public Policy, Management, and Decision Science at Harvard Kennedy School (pictured left), received an Innovations in Positive Health grant in 2022 to spearhead a project titled “Using Reappraisal to Increase Well-Being in Head Start Teachers at Scale.” This initiative aimed to create and assess an evidence-based, online, brief, low-cost, and scalable emotional regulation intervention to boost the emotional resilience of teachers, especially during the pandemic.
In the preliminary phase, Dr. Lerner interviewed 35 Head Start teachers, and found that they preferred evidence-backed online interventions lasting an hour or less. Next, she conducted a survey at the National Head Start Conference, receiving responses from 1,967 teachers. This survey revealed that employing cognitive reappraisal, a method of reinterpreting stimulus to regulate emotions, correlated significantly with enhanced emotional well-being, mental health, job performance, and physical health among participants.
Finally, utilizing these insights, Dr. Lerner developed a brief online cognitive reappraisal intervention, and tested it in a longitudinal field experiment involving about 2,000 Head Start teachers. The results showcased substantial positive effects, including reduced anxiety and stress, improved physical health, better problem-solving skills, increased sense of control, job satisfaction, performance, perceived workplace support, and stronger intentions to remain employed.
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