"More gratitude may be precisely what our society needs to raise
a generation that is ready to make a difference in the world,"
study researcher Giacomo Bono, Ph.D., a psychology professor at
California State University, said in a statement. "Gratitude" in
a teen was defined as having a positive outlook on his or her
life. The researchers conducted the study on 700 kids ages 10 to
14 over four years. At the end of the four-year period, the most
grateful teens had a 15 percent increase in feeling like they
had a meaning for life, as well as a 15 percent increase in life
satisfaction. They experienced a 17 percent boost in happiness
and hopefulness, as well as a 15 percent decrease in feeling
symptoms of depression, researchers found. Plus, those who
experienced the greatest increase in gratefulness over the four-
year period also experienced the greatest reductions in bad
behaviors like cheating, drug and alcohol use and detention. The
finding backs up a previous one conducted by researchers at
Hofstra Universi