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Cited by 23Psychological Well-being and Life SatisfactionChildren's Rights and ParticipationAdolescent Health and Behaviors

Constructing a definition: Adolescent wellbeing from the perspective of the child and expert

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Gennings, Ellie K., Brown, Hazel J., Hewlett, Denise·2021·International Journal of Wellbeing
DOI 10.5502/ijw.v11i1.1461
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Abstract

Background: Adolescent's wellbeing is gaining increasing attention, with it being part of the United Nations sustainable goals (United Nations, 2019 [online]).The question regarding what adolescent's wellbeing is, however, has received no rigorous answer (Alexandrova, 2017), even though it is regarded as a fundamental measure of learning and growing as a human being (Stevens & Jarden, 2019).Understanding what wellbeing means to adolescents is vital and an under-researched area (Dunlop-Bennett et al., 2019) which has implications for the development and validation of tools to measure their wellbeing.Construct definition development literature highlights that experts, in addition to the relevant population, need to be consulted about the subject area to form a representative and valid definition (Podsakoff et al., 2016).Method: Two groups were invited to interview with the aim to understand their conspetulisations of wellbeing.Group 1 consisted of both expert practitioners and researchers from different disciplines in the field of wellbeing (n = 8) and Group 2 were young people aged 11-16 (n = 41).Conclusion: Any definition needs to be reflective of the multi-faceted nature of wellbeing.Findings revealed three themes: holism, positive feelings, and external influences.Based on these findings a definition of wellbeing was formed.These conclusions should be used to underpin research with adolescents and the development of a measure of young people's wellbeing.

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  • Different demographic sectors of the same ethnic group may have different understandings of wellbeing, so research findings from one age-group cannot be assumed to transpose to another.

    “Similarly, different demographical sectors of the same ethnic group may have different understandings and interpretations of the concept of wellbeing, and it should not be assumed that research findings from one age-group can be transposed across to another (Gennings, et al, 2021).”

    From A GROUNDED THEORY EXPLORATION OF WELLBEING FOR WOMEN WHO HAVE BEEN FORCIBLY DISPLACED AS A RESULT OF TRAUMA CAUSED BY CONFLICT, BASED ON THE EXPERIENCE OF PARTICIPANTS LIVING IN UGANDA (2025) · cites this paper as Gennings, et al, 2021

    The Introduction states that adolescents’ perceptions of wellbeing are likely to differ from adults’ and that findings from adult-based research cannot be applied to adolescents. The Discussion also reports differences between adults’ and adolescents’ conceptualisations. The paper does not establish that the groups belong to the same ethnic group, so that qualifier is unsupported. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Gennings, E. K., Brown, H. J., & Hewlett, D.
Affiliations
University of Winchester (GB)
Corresponding author
Gennings, Ellie K.
ORCID
Venue
International Journal of Wellbeing
Publisher
International Journal of Wellbeing
Published
2021-01-31
Volume
11
Issue
1
Pages
69-88
ISSN
1179-8602 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.5502/ijw.v11i1.1461
OpenAlex
W3128009564
Cited by
23
References
8
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 1
FWCI
2.05
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by-nc-nd
Locations
  • International Journal of Wellbeing (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • Bournemouth University Research Online (Bournemouth University) (acceptedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Children's Rights and Participation
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Adolescent Health and Behaviors
Keywords
adolescent wellbeing, expert opinion, youth perspectives, holistic well-being, positive emotions, external influence, well-being measurement, Sustainable Development Goals

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