Don't let things you have done define you!: An anti-oppressive constructivist study of youth voices defining wellness

Problem Statement

How health is defined and subsequently measured impacts programming. Who defines adaptive behaviour influences validation of youth mental health. Psychocentric discourses emphasize the “at-risk youth,” pathologizing individual behaviours and outcomes. Professionals devise definitions of youth wellness, rarely consulting with youth.

Methods

My study explored how youth from a small Canadian city define wellness within personal, relational, collective, and structural domains, to inform theory and practice around youth health strategies. Charmaz’s Constructivist Grounded Theory method was used. A critical, anti-oppressive theoretical approach identified power dynamics impacting youth wellness. Dialogical Action Theory framed pragmatic policy recommendations.

Sampling was purposeful in locations where youth were present and snowballing used for recruitment. There were 16 youth aged 16 to 23 years with functional literacy of English, eligible to participate in semi-structured interviews (16) and two sets of focus groups (4).

Results

Youth self-identified by gender: six boys, six girls, and four gender diverse. Fifteen provided individual definitions of wellness; focus groups produced two co-created definitions. A holistic, ecologic model of meta-themes is a theoretical contribution to defining youth wellness. At the Personal Level, wellness was associated with competence, creativity, mindfulness, and self-care. At the Relational Level, wellness was promoted through positive friendships, empathetic kin, and non-judgemental “close” adults. Wellness at the Communal Level involved mental health supports, youth-friendly “safe spaces,” altruism, and social justice causes.

These youth of the postmodern Information Age provided a wealth of practical advice around youth mental health, discrimination and stigma, safety, social media, substance use and homelessness.

Policy recommendations include mediating wellness through early detection of languishing (e.g., depression, anxiety, and disordered eating); fostering empowerment through wellness literacy and youth voices in policy and program development; creating healing-centred engagement youth hubs; providing critical literacy skills to further social justice; and protecting the vulnerable and marginalized.

Conclusion

Of concern is the prevalence of stigma associated with mental health and substance use challenges and intergenerational trauma experienced by youth in this study. Youth wellness calls for whole-person restorative healing interventions, also extended to families and communities, given the collective nature of supports needed to foster healthy youth development.