@Article{ijmhp.2024.057068,
AUTHOR = {Shinichiro Matsuguma, Miku Suzuki, Miki Kanamaru, Hitomi Tsuchiya, Masato Kawamoto, Masaya Kobayashi},
TITLE = {Redefining Snacking as a Piece of Daily Happiness: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Engagement in <i>Oyatsu</i> Activities for Improving Well-Being},
JOURNAL = {International Journal of Mental Health Promotion},
VOLUME = {26},
YEAR = {2024},
NUMBER = {12},
PAGES = {967--975},
URL = {http://www.techscience.com/IJMHP/v26n12/59157},
ISSN = {2049-8543},
ABSTRACT = { <b>Background:</b> Today, mental illness is one of the most serious social issues in Japan. To proactively prevent psychological disorders and improve and maintain well-being, each individual must take action and engage in small yet significant daily activities for their well-being on a daily basis. The purpose of this study was to investigate if our daily engagement in <i>oyatsu</i> activities, sharing and giving snacks, can enhance hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. <b>Methods:</b> We conducted a randomized controlled, open-label, parallel-group comparative design trial. Participants were recruited from a community website run by a snack company in Japan. Participants who were 20 years old or older without currently experiencing physical or mental illnesses were included. The participants in the intervention group (n = 152) were instructed to do <i>oyatsu</i> activities, defined as sharing or giving snacks to others, for one month intentionally, while the participants in the control group (n = 154) were not given any instructions. Hedonic or subjective well-being (SWB) was measured using the Scale of Positive and Negative Experience (SPANE) and Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), and eudaimonic well-being was measured by the Flourishing Scale (FS). A one-way independent <i>t</i>-test was conducted to determine statistically significant differences in the degree of improvement of the scores between the intervention and the control groups. <b>Results:</b> The primary outcome was the difference in change in FS scores from baseline to one-month follow-up between the groups, and the secondary outcome was the difference in change in SWLS and SPANE scores. We found a significant between-group difference in the improvement in FS score from baseline to one-month follow-up (t (280) = 2.235, <i>p</i> = 0.03), as well as SPANE-P (t (280) = 3.514, <i>p</i> < 0.001), SPANE-N (t (282) = −2.651, <i>p</i> = 0.01) and SWLS (t (281) = 2.842, <i>p</i> = 0.01). <b>Conclusions:</b> Engaging in <i>oyatsu</i> activities might improve hedonic and eudaimonic well-being partly due to the prosocial nature of <i>oyatsu</i> activities.},
DOI = {10.32604/ijmhp.2024.057068}
}