Positive Psychology for Acute Coronary Syndrome Patients

For the positive psychology portion of the intervention, the study trainer will (a) review the week's positive psychology exercise, (b) discuss the rationale of the next week's positive psychology exercise through a guided review of the positive psychology manual, and (c) assign the next week's positive psychology exercise. For the motivational interviewing portion, participants will (a) review their physical activity goal from the prior week, (b) discuss techniques for improving physical activity, and (c) set a physical activity goal for the next week. Study trainers will use motivational interviewing techniques to facilitate goal setting.

Each week, participants will learn about a different health behavior topic related to cardiac health. They will also be introduced to motivational interviewing topics in concert with the health behavior education topics. The intervention is divided into five sections, focusing on five different important cardiac health-related topics (recovery from an acute cardiac illness, physical activity, a heart-healthy diet, medication adherence, and stress reduction).