Effect of gratitude education and a one-week grateful expression exercise on perceived stress of students at a Nigerian University: A mixed-methods pilot study

Many African youths enter university amid socio-economic and security challenges. Although chronic stress is known to hinder academic achievement and gratitude has been shown to enhance psychological well-being, its impact on perceived stress has not yet been investigated. This mixed-methods pilot study evaluated the effectiveness of gratitude education and a one-week grateful expression exercise in reducing stress. Forty undergraduate students were randomly assigned to either an education-only control group ( n = 20) or an education + gratitude visit group ( n = 20). The ANOVA results show that perceived stress changed over time, but this change differ not between groups. There was a non-significant time × group interaction (p = 0.44, ηp 2 = 0.016), indicating that the pattern of change from baseline (T0) to post-intervention (T1) and one-month follow-up (T2) was similar across groups. A significant main effect of time was observed (p = 0.007, ηp 2 = 0.18), with medium sized-effect, indicating that perceived stress levels changed meaningfully across the three time points for all participants. Surprisingly, the control group demonstrated steady decline in PSS scores from baseline to one-month follow-up (SE = 0.77, p = .007, 95% CI [0.63, 3.62]), whereas the intervention group showed no comparable change. Despite the non-significant impact of the gratitude intervention, students’ gratitude letters and reflections provided rich, personal accounts that beautifully illustrate the robust psychological mechanisms through which gratitude improves emotional well-being, strengthens family and social relationships, and supports character development. Our results are preliminary but have important implications for university administrators, researchers, educators, and mental health professionals.