A descriptive qualitative study of adolescent girls’ well-being in Northern Finland
Background: Previous studies have shown that girls present welfare-related symptoms differently than boys and that the severity of their symptoms increases with age. Girls living in Northern Finland experience reduced well-being in some aspects of their lives. However, the opinions of girls on these...
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Taylor & Francis Group
2014
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:282a5a1dd4ce4a6d8a46d4bf235f1960 2023-05-15T15:13:53+02:00 A descriptive qualitative study of adolescent girls’ well-being in Northern Finland Varpu Wiens Helvi Kyngäs Tarja Pölkki 2014-10-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v73.24792 https://doaj.org/article/282a5a1dd4ce4a6d8a46d4bf235f1960 EN eng Taylor & Francis Group http://www.circumpolarhealthjournal.net/index.php/ijch/article/download/24792/pdf_1 https://doaj.org/toc/2242-3982 2242-3982 doi:10.3402/ijch.v73.24792 https://doaj.org/article/282a5a1dd4ce4a6d8a46d4bf235f1960 International Journal of Circumpolar Health, Vol 73, Iss 0, Pp 1-8 (2014) well-being girl gender descriptive content analysis Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 article 2014 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v73.24792 2022-12-31T13:57:01Z Background: Previous studies have shown that girls present welfare-related symptoms differently than boys and that the severity of their symptoms increases with age. Girls living in Northern Finland experience reduced well-being in some aspects of their lives. However, the opinions of girls on these matters have not previously been studied. Objective: The aim of this study was to describe girls’ well-being in Northern Finland. Method: This is a descriptive qualitative study. The participants were 117 girls aged between 13 and 16 who were living in the province of Lapland in Finland and attending primary school. Data were collected electronically; the girls were asked to respond to a set of open-ended questions using a computer during a school day. The responses were evaluated by using inductive content analysis. Results: Four main categories of girls’ well-being were identified: health as a resource, a beneficial lifestyle, positive experience of life course, and favourable social relationships. Health as a resource was about feeling healthy and the ability to enjoy life. A beneficial lifestyle was about healthy habits and meaningful hobbies. Positive experience of life course is related to high self-esteem and feeling good, safe, and optimistic. Favourable social relationships meant having good relationships with family and friends. Conclusions: To the participating girls, well-being was a positive experience and feeling which was revealed when they interact between their relationships, living conditions, lifestyle, and environment. Knowledge about girls’ description of their well-being can be used to understand how the girls themselves and their environment influence their well-being and what can be done to promote it. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Circumpolar Health International Journal of Circumpolar Health Northern Finland Lapland Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic International Journal of Circumpolar Health 73 1 24792 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
well-being girl gender descriptive content analysis Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 |
spellingShingle |
well-being girl gender descriptive content analysis Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Varpu Wiens Helvi Kyngäs Tarja Pölkki A descriptive qualitative study of adolescent girls’ well-being in Northern Finland |
topic_facet |
well-being girl gender descriptive content analysis Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 |
description |
Background: Previous studies have shown that girls present welfare-related symptoms differently than boys and that the severity of their symptoms increases with age. Girls living in Northern Finland experience reduced well-being in some aspects of their lives. However, the opinions of girls on these matters have not previously been studied. Objective: The aim of this study was to describe girls’ well-being in Northern Finland. Method: This is a descriptive qualitative study. The participants were 117 girls aged between 13 and 16 who were living in the province of Lapland in Finland and attending primary school. Data were collected electronically; the girls were asked to respond to a set of open-ended questions using a computer during a school day. The responses were evaluated by using inductive content analysis. Results: Four main categories of girls’ well-being were identified: health as a resource, a beneficial lifestyle, positive experience of life course, and favourable social relationships. Health as a resource was about feeling healthy and the ability to enjoy life. A beneficial lifestyle was about healthy habits and meaningful hobbies. Positive experience of life course is related to high self-esteem and feeling good, safe, and optimistic. Favourable social relationships meant having good relationships with family and friends. Conclusions: To the participating girls, well-being was a positive experience and feeling which was revealed when they interact between their relationships, living conditions, lifestyle, and environment. Knowledge about girls’ description of their well-being can be used to understand how the girls themselves and their environment influence their well-being and what can be done to promote it. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Varpu Wiens Helvi Kyngäs Tarja Pölkki |
author_facet |
Varpu Wiens Helvi Kyngäs Tarja Pölkki |
author_sort |
Varpu Wiens |
title |
A descriptive qualitative study of adolescent girls’ well-being in Northern Finland |
title_short |
A descriptive qualitative study of adolescent girls’ well-being in Northern Finland |
title_full |
A descriptive qualitative study of adolescent girls’ well-being in Northern Finland |
title_fullStr |
A descriptive qualitative study of adolescent girls’ well-being in Northern Finland |
title_full_unstemmed |
A descriptive qualitative study of adolescent girls’ well-being in Northern Finland |
title_sort |
descriptive qualitative study of adolescent girls’ well-being in northern finland |
publisher |
Taylor & Francis Group |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v73.24792 https://doaj.org/article/282a5a1dd4ce4a6d8a46d4bf235f1960 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Circumpolar Health International Journal of Circumpolar Health Northern Finland Lapland |
genre_facet |
Arctic Circumpolar Health International Journal of Circumpolar Health Northern Finland Lapland |
op_source |
International Journal of Circumpolar Health, Vol 73, Iss 0, Pp 1-8 (2014) |
op_relation |
http://www.circumpolarhealthjournal.net/index.php/ijch/article/download/24792/pdf_1 https://doaj.org/toc/2242-3982 2242-3982 doi:10.3402/ijch.v73.24792 https://doaj.org/article/282a5a1dd4ce4a6d8a46d4bf235f1960 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v73.24792 |
container_title |
International Journal of Circumpolar Health |
container_volume |
73 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
24792 |
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1766344397290471424 |