Applies to ListBoxItem and TreeViewItem, which through those covers ListBox, ListView, ComboBox drop-downs and TreeView. Every property is a brush for one state an item can be in.

Set these on the item, not on the list. The properties inherit, so putting them on the ListBox looks like it should work — but the MahApps ListBoxItem style already sets most of them, and a style setter on the item beats a value inherited from its parent. Use ItemContainerStyle.
<ListBox>
<ListBox.ItemContainerStyle>
<Style BasedOn="{StaticResource MahApps.Styles.ListBoxItem}" TargetType="ListBoxItem">
<Setter Property="mah:ItemHelper.ActiveSelectionBackgroundBrush" Value="#2E7D32" />
<Setter Property="mah:ItemHelper.ActiveSelectionForegroundBrush" Value="White" />
<Setter Property="mah:ItemHelper.SelectedBackgroundBrush" Value="#2E7D32" />
<Setter Property="mah:ItemHelper.SelectedForegroundBrush" Value="White" />
</Style>
</ListBox.ItemContainerStyle>
</ListBox>
Keep the BasedOn, or the item loses its template along with everything else the style sets.
The states
Each row is a pair — a ...BackgroundBrush and a ...ForegroundBrush.
| State | |
|---|---|
ActiveSelection |
selected, and the keyboard focus is inside the list |
Selected |
selected while the focus is elsewhere |
Hover |
the pointer is over the item |
HoverSelected |
the pointer is over an item that is also selected |
MouseLeftButtonPressed |
held down with the left button |
MouseRightButtonPressed |
held down with the right button |
Disabled |
the item is disabled |
DisabledSelected |
disabled and selected |
The split between ActiveSelection and Selected is the one that catches people out: a list that loses focus draws its selection with the second pair, so recolouring only ActiveSelection leaves the selection reverting to the theme colour as soon as the user clicks elsewhere.
Related
For the items of a ComboBox drop-down the same properties apply, set through the combo box's ItemContainerStyle. TreeViewItem takes them directly; see also TreeViewItemHelper for its expander button.