At the Branstens' modern white dining table, the familyholds hands for their nightly ritual.

　　布朗斯唐(Bransten)家现代风格的白色餐桌旁，一家人手拉手开始每天晚上都会进行的仪式。

　　Arielle, 8 years old, says she's thankful for her late grandfather, Horace, and how funny he was. 'I'mmissing him, ' she says. Her third-grade pal, over for dinner, chimes in, 'I'm grateful for thesausages.' Leela, who works for an education nonprofit, and her attorney husband Peter, burstinto smiles. The San Francisco couple couldn't have scripted this better. Appreciation for things bigand small -- that's why they do this.

　　八岁的阿丽尔(Arielle)说，她感谢已故的祖父霍拉斯(Horace)以及他的风趣。“我一直想念他，”她说。阿丽尔来家里做客吃饭的三年级同学插嘴说：“我感谢有香肠吃。”在一家非营利教育机构工作的利拉(Leela)和当律师的丈夫彼得(Peter)不禁笑起来。这对生活在旧金山的夫妇的这个安排非常完美。对生活中大大小小的事情心存感恩——这就是他们这样做的原因。

　　Giving thanks is no longer just holiday fare. A field of research on gratitude in kids is emerging,and early findings indicate parents' instincts to elevate the topic are spot-on. Concrete benefitscome to kids who literally count their blessings.

　　感恩已不再只是节日的事情。围绕儿童感恩情况的一个研究领域正在兴起，初步研究结果显示，父母凭直觉提起这个话题非常正确。如果孩子能真正地历数使他们感到幸福的事情，这对他们有实际益处。

　　Gratitude works like a muscle. Take time to recognize good fortune, and feelings of appreciationcan increase. Even more, those who are less grateful gain the most from a concerted effort.'Gratitude treatments are most effective in those least grateful, ' says Eastern WashingtonUniversity psychology professor Philip Watkins.

　　感恩的形成如同肌肉。如果花时间认识到值得庆幸的事，感恩的情绪就会增加。甚至感恩之心没那么强的人在齐心协力的努力中会获益最多。东华盛顿大学(Eastern Washington University)心理学教授沃特金斯(PhilipWatkins)说，感恩疗法在那些感恩之心较为淡薄的人身上最有效。

　　Among a group of 122 elementary school kids taught a weeklong curriculum on concepts aroundgiving, gratitude grew, according to a study due to be published in 2014 in School PsychologyReview. The heightened thankfulness translated into action: 44% of the kids in the curriculumopted to write thank-you notes when given the choice following a PTA presentation. In the controlgroup, 25% wrote notes.

　　将于2014年发表在《学校心理学评论》(School Psychology Review)上的一项研究报告显示，一个由122名小学生组成的小组在接受了为期一周的有关付出的课程后，感恩心态有所增强。增加的感激之情转化成了行动：参加课程的孩子在观看一个家庭教师协会(PTA)的演示后，有44%的孩子选择了写感谢信。对照组写感谢信的孩子比例为25%。

　　'The old adage that virtues are caught, not taught, applies here, ' says University of California, Davispsychology professor Robert Emmons. Parents need to model this behavior to build their children'sgratitude muscle. 'It's not what parents want to hear, but you cannot give your kids somethingthat you yourselves do not have, ' Dr. Emmons says.

　　加州大学戴维斯分校(University of California, Davis)的心理学教授埃蒙斯(Robert Emmons)说，有句老话叫美德重在身教而非言传，在这里也适用。父母需要以身作则表现出感恩，才能让孩子也学会感恩。埃蒙斯说，关键不在于父母想听些什么，而是你自己都不具备的品质不可能传授给孩子。

　　This may seems obvious, but it eludes many parents, Dr. Watkins says. 'I think the most importantthing for us adults to realize is we're not very grateful either, ' he says.

　　沃特金斯说，这看上去似乎是显然的，但很多父母并没意识到。他说，我认为对我们这些成年人来说最重要的是要认识到，我们自己也没有多少感恩之心。

　　The mere act of giving thanks has tangible benefits, research suggests. A 2008 study of 221 kidspublished in the Journal of School Psychology analyzed sixth- and seventh-graders assigned to listfive things they were grateful for every day for two weeks. It found they had a better outlook onschool and greater life satisfaction three weeks later, compared with kids assigned to list fivehassles.

　　研究表明，仅仅是表示谢意的行动也会带来实际的益处。2008年发表于《学校心理学杂志》(Journal of SchoolPsychology)的一项研究报告对221名六年级和七年级的学生进行了分析，他们被要求在两周时间里每天列出为之心存感恩的五件事情。研究发现，相比被要求每天列举五件为之烦恼的事的孩子，这些孩子在三周后对学校的看法更积极，生活满意度也更高。

　　Another study examined 1, 035 high-school students outside New York City. The study, published in2010 in the Journal of Happiness Studies, found that those who showed high levels of gratitude, forinstance thankfulness for the beauty of nature and strong appreciation of other people, reportedhaving stronger GPAs, less depression and envy and a more positive outlook than less gratefulteens.

　　另一项研究检查了纽约市以外1,035名高中生的情况。该研究论文于2010年发表于《幸福研究杂志》(Journalof Happiness Studies)，研究发现，相比那些不太感恩的青少年，具有强烈感恩之心的学生(比如对自然之美心存感恩，或很感激其他人)平均成绩更高、不容易沮丧和嫉妒，也更为积极乐观。