From Brain to Heart: The Impact of Gratitude on Youth Mental Health

• November 19, 2024
• Jennifer Salerno

I’ll go first.

Your turn.

Can you slow down for 3 minutes? It’ll be just long enough to stop scrolling, grab a pen, and take a breath. Now, think of 5 or 6 things for which you are truly grateful.

Who, or what, makes your list? Does anyone or anything surprise you?

The benefits of gratitude are far-reaching — it can have such a profound effect on the body, mind, and spirit that the practice can feel mysterious. How is it that taking just a few moments each day to reframe your circumstances and call out the good in life can lead to improved mental and physical health?

Let’s talk about what it looks like to practice gratitude with youth, and how adults can reap the benefits, too.

The Science Behind Gratitude: How It Affects the Brain and Emotions

Gratitude has a powerful influence on the brain. It directly affects both emotional wellbeing and mental health. Neuroscience research has shown that expressing gratitude activates areas of the brain involved in reward, specifically the prefrontal cortex, which plays a role in the regulation of emotions and behavior, including controlling impulses and delaying gratification. This effect is largely due to the release of dopamine and serotonin— neurotransmitters linked to feelings of happiness and contentment. When youth practice gratitude consistently, it reinforces these positive neural responses, promoting a long-term sense of wellbeing​.

Over time, gratitude essentially ‘rewires’ the brain, strengthening neural pathways that help youth focus on positive experiences instead of negative ones. This change doesn’t happen overnight, of course, but with practice, gratitude helps individuals adapt to challenges and develop a more optimistic outlook. Another way to say it – practicing gratitude helps build resiliency in the face of adversity. Focusing on gratitude can even improve decision-making and emotional regulation by enhancing prefrontal cortex activity​.

Studies specific to youth highlight that practicing gratitude can significantly reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression, improve sleep quality, and boost emotional resilience. Research published in The Journal of Positive Psychology found that youth who engaged in regular gratitude exercises reported higher levels of life satisfaction and optimism, along with lower levels of stress and depressive symptoms. For many, this positive shift can also translate to better peer relationships and academic engagement, creating a ripple effect that extends beyond individual mental health.

Practical Gratitude Strategies

Integrating gratitude practices into daily life can be transformative, especially when practices are tailored to different age groups. Here are some effective, age-appropriate strategies that can help youth build gratitude into their routines, along with ideas for parents, caregivers, and professionals to support them.

Youth

Gratitude practices are most impactful when they’re accessible and engaging, fitting naturally into the lives of youth at various developmental stages:

• Elementary: For younger children, gratitude can start as a simple daily ritual. For instance, a “gratitude circle” where each child shares something they’re grateful for during class or at home can create a positive group atmosphere. Another popular method is a gratitude journal where kids write or draw one thing they appreciated each day​.

• Middle and High School: As youth get older, more reflective practices can deepen their understanding of gratitude. Middle and high schoolers might write gratitude letters (or emails or text messages) to someone who has positively impacted their lives. Expressing gratitude in this way can strengthen relationships and help them recognize support systems around them. This, in turn, can help strengthen a sense of belonging and resilience​.

• College-Age: For college students, who typically have much more independence and often experience more stress, gratitude can be a grounding practice. More nuanced exercises, like listing things they’re grateful for during challenging moments, can help them reframe negative experiences. Regular gratitude journaling, where they focus on people or experiences they value, provides a sense of stability while their lives transform into adulthood with new responsibilities and pressures​.

Parents and Caregivers

Parents and caregivers play a significant role in modeling gratitude for youth. By incorporating small gratitude habits into family routines, adults can create a supportive environment that encourages kids to recognize and appreciate positive aspects of their lives:

• Gratitude Rituals at Mealtimes: Making gratitude part of family meals can establish it as a daily habit. For example, each family member can share one thing they’re thankful for before eating, a ritual that helps highlight everyday positives and encourages open sharing​. It doesn’t always have to be framed as gratitude – some families share their highs and lows as a way to reflect on the day and specifically call out the good moments. This can work, too.

• Family Gratitude Jars: Another family-friendly activity is creating a gratitude jar. Each family member writes notes of appreciation throughout the week, placing them in the jar, and the family reads them together at the end of the month. This activity emphasizes reflection and gives youth a visual reminder of the positive moments in their lives​.

• Teaching ‘Thank-You’ Habits: Yes, this needs to be taught! Explicitly teaching youth to say thank you — both in-person and in writing — helps reinforce gratitude as a social norm. Encouraging this simple habit can build empathy and respect in their interactions with others, helping them recognize the impact of kindness in their lives​.

Professionals

Mental health professionals, educators, and school staff can also incorporate gratitude into their work with youth, creating supportive environments that enhance wellbeing:

• Gratitude Check-Ins: Whether in therapy, counseling, or classrooms, gratitude check-ins can be a quick and powerful exercise. Professionals might ask youth to share something they’re grateful for at the start or end of a session. This simple prompt can shift focus to positive thoughts and set a constructive tone​.

• Using Gratitude in Goal-Setting: Professionals can integrate gratitude into goal-setting, helping youth see challenges as growth opportunities. By acknowledging achievements with appreciation, they reinforce a growth mindset and help youth view their efforts with pride​.

• Gratitude Displays: In classrooms or counseling spaces, gratitude boards or walls give youth a place to post things they’re thankful for. These visual displays create a community atmosphere where youth can share their appreciation, leading to an increased sense of connection and positivity​.

Practicing gratitude isn’t just beneficial for youth. Professionals who incorporate gratitude into their work report feeling more connected to their purpose, experiencing greater job satisfaction, and even reducing burnout. This personal engagement with gratitude can create a ripple effect, enhancing the quality of interactions they have with youth and fostering a supportive environment for everyone involved​.

Why Gratitude Works

Gratitude has a powerful ability to uplift and strengthen all of us – across ages and roles in life. For youth, parents/caregivers, and professionals, gratitude not only boosts mental and emotional resilience but also provides a framework for dealing with life’s challenges. It also boosts physical health with lower blood pressure and lowered risk of heart disease.

Practicing gratitude can improve emotional resilience—a person’s ability to navigate stress and adversity. Gratitude is associated with lower levels of perceived stress and higher levels of wellbeing, suggesting that those who regularly express appreciation tend to handle stress more effectively. In youth, this ability to cope constructively with difficulties can lead to healthier ways of managing emotions, improving relationships, and developing a sense of agency in their lives​.

The connection between gratitude and better relationships is especially relevant for youth. Gratitude helps people recognize the support and kindness in their lives, which naturally strengthens relationships. By expressing appreciation, youth often experience a reciprocal effect—others respond positively, leading to increased trust and cooperation. This impact extends beyond personal relationships – gratitude promotes a sense of belonging within schools, families, and communities, which can reduce feelings of isolation and increase overall satisfaction​.

Consistent gratitude practice encourages a positive mindset, focusing on what’s going well instead of fixating on challenges. (It’s hard to be Negative Nancy when you’ve just spent 5 or 10 minutes journaling about how much you genuinely appreciate different things in your life!). Over time, this shift becomes self-reinforcing: the brain learns to seek out positives, making it easier to find hope and optimism even in tough situations. For youth, building this mindset early provides a valuable tool for facing life’s ups and downs, allowing them to view challenges as part of their growth rather than overwhelming, insurmountable obstacles​.

It only takes a few moments in a Google search to read real-world impact stories where K12 Districts are implementing district or campus-wide gratitude practices and seeing results. Check out the Greater Good Science Center and the work of researchers at California State University, Dominguez Hills; the University of California, Davis; Hofstra University; and Claremont Graduate University.

Schools that have incorporated gratitude programs report improved student morale, higher levels of engagement, and fewer disciplinary issues. Collective experiences of gratitude tend to lead to more supportive, cohesive environments where youth feel encouraged to learn and connect with their peers​.

We’re Thankful For You

At Possibilities For Change, we are grateful for you. Whether you work in School-Based Health, higher education, private practice mental health, pediatrics, or (any) place that serves youth, thank you. Our team remains committed to supporting your work by developing the tools that enable you to identify and reduce youth risk. In addition to gratitude, check out our risk screening tools, trauma-responsive health technology, and resources for parents.

About the Author

Jennifer Salerno, DNP, CPNP, FAANP, is the Founder and CEO of Possibilities for Change and a nationally recognized clinician, researcher, and social entrepreneur. A passionate clinician, visionary leader, and devoted parent, Dr. Jen is on a mission to change the odds for at-risk youth by blending evidence-based clinical practice with research, radical partnership, and unwavering empathy. With more than 30 years of experience in pediatric care, adolescent development, and school-based health services, she developed RAAPS (Rapid Adolescent Prevention Screening) at the University of Michigan and launched Possibilities for Change to scale that methodology nationally — supported by trauma-responsive technology and a comprehensive approach to youth wellbeing. As a mother of two, Dr. Jen brings both professional expertise and personal commitment to every aspect of this work.