Exploring Ghanaian adolescents’ meaning of health and wellbeing: A psychosocial perspective

Abstract

There is presently no internationally agreed upon set of indicators for assessing adolescent health and what “health and wellbeing” means to adolescents. The psychosocial context of family, friends, and school plays a crucial role in the construction of health and wellbeing by adolescents. In spite of this, not much is known about the meaning Ghanaian adolescents attach to their health and wellbeing and the role of stress and social support in the construction of this meaning. This study explores how perceived social support and stress influence the construction of the meaning of health and wellbeing to Ghanaian adolescents. Eleven respondents purposively selected from 770 males and females participated in semi-structured interviews, which were transcribed verbatim and analysed with thematic analysis. Findings pointed to the fact that health and wellbeing was largely construed as “ability to perform daily functions,” such as ability to take critical decisions and a general sense of vitality and mental strength. These were influenced by perceived social support (“encouragement and advice” and “religiosity or spirituality”) and stress (“teasing, strictness, quarrels, and arguments”). These findings suggest that effective communication, mutual respect, and support from significant others, in the midst of stressful life events, contribute substantially to a holistic construction and meaning of health and wellbeing by Ghanaian adolescents.

Emotional wellbeing in youth: A concept analysis

“…Self‐actualization is described in the literature as visualizing and striving to achieve one's potential . In his seminal work, Erikson concluded that adolescents, developmentally, are challenged with establishing an identity independent from parents and caregivers, and school‐aged children are challenged to establish a sense of competence in what is commonly known as industry versus inferiority.…”

“…In his seminal work, Erikson concluded that adolescents, developmentally, are challenged with establishing an identity independent from parents and caregivers, and school‐aged children are challenged to establish a sense of competence in what is commonly known as industry versus inferiority. Teens who experience emotional wellbeing have been demonstrated to have hopes and dreams for career aspirations, and demonstrate the beginnings of self‐actualization . Children in the National Survey of Children's Health described as flourishing demonstrated the ability to make a plan and follow through with it, thereby exhibiting self‐actualization and emotional wellbeing .…”

“…Children with chronic illness not having achieved self‐efficacy and emotional wellbeing may regress behaviorally, such as not being able to be alone or sleep alone, thumb sucking and needing a security blanket . Youth with high levels of self‐esteem, resilience, self‐efficacy, and emotional wellbeing demonstrate a determination to overcome challenges in the face of adversity and attain personal goals …”

“…The attributes of resilience, positive self‐esteem, and positive emotions are also well described, as are the associated consequences of self‐actualization, self‐efficacy, the absence of high‐risk behaviors, and the presence of health promotion behaviors . The literature also reflects the clear and direct relationship between body image and self‐esteem, as well as the strong correlation between SSNRs and resilience—a critical element to emotional wellbeing in youth …”

Lay perceptions of mental toughness: Understanding conceptual similarities and differences between lay and sporting contexts

“…Instead, findings suggest that laypeople view mental strength as the most important attribute of mental toughness. Although not coherently documented, various researchers have used mental strength to describe qualities of emotional stability (Deutscher, Frick, & Prinz, 2013), an ability to make hard decisions (Glozah, 2015), a strong "sense of self" that facilitates a capacity to deal with intimidating or difficult situations (such as domestic violence; Rose et al, 2010), focus, intelligence, the ability to learn, deep commitment, a positive outlook and an ability to resist feeling overwhelmed or discouraged (Stewart, 2009). As such, mental strength may be a higher-order attribute encompassing a collection of sub-attributes of mental toughness.…”