UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DO RIO GRANDE DO SUL
INSTITUTO DE PSICOLOGIA
PÓS GRADUAÇÃO EM PSICOLOGIA DO DESENVOLVIMENTO
GRUPO DE PESQUISA EM PSICOLOGIA COMUNITÁRIA
Brazilian adolescents’ says on their
well-being and quality of life
Ângela Carina Paradiso, Fabiane Friedrich Schütz,
Maíne Alves Prates, Anelise Lopes Rodrigues, Livia Bedin
Prof. Dr. Jorge Castellá Sarriera
INTRODUCTION
• Quality of life is defined as an individual’s perception
on it’s position in life, culture and value systems in
which one lives in, and in relation to their goals,
expectations, patterns and worries (WHOQOL –
World Health Organization, 1995)
• The Quality of Life concept includes the feeling of
well-being. Individual’s evaluation towards the reality
one’s participate is considered (Ríos, 1994).
INTRODUCTION
• The well-being concept, although, has no unique
definition on the academic research field (Rees,
Goswami & Bradshaw, 2010).
• According to Diener, Suh, Lucas and Smith (1999),
Subjective Well-Being is a wide category that
incorporates people’s emotional responses, domain
satisfactions and global judgments on life satisfactions.
INTRODUCTION
• Young people do not produce scientific knowledge by
themselves. It is up to the researchers to give voice to
their perceptions on their well being and quality of life,
acknowledging their citizen condition (Casas, 2010;
Sarriera et al, 2007; UNESCO, 2004).
OBJECTIVE
To understand adolescent’s perceptions on their WellBeing and Quality of Life and identify it’s meanings and
expressive categories.
METHOD
• The focus groups technique was applied and discussions
were recorded, transcribed and uploaded into the data
analysis software Atlas Ti. The obtained content was
analysed through Content Analysis (Bardin, 1977).
METHOD
Participants:
– 55 adolescents of both sexes:
• 32 private school students (3 schools)
• 23 public school students (2 schools)
• 8 focus groups with approximately 6 participants
each.
– Schools are located in three cities in the south of
Brazil
RESULTS
CATEGORY
Parents
Friends
Family
CONCEPTUAL
AXES
CONCEPT
Interpersonal
Aspects
Community
Satisfaction with oneself
Personal Aspects
Life Styles
World View
Material Conditions
Formal Education
Social Pressure
Contextual Aspects
Well-Being
RESULTS
• Interpersonal Aspects includes
– Relationships with parents, family, friends, and community
are valued.
– Social Support is perceived as a substantial aspect in these
relationships.
– The main aspect perceived regarding friendship is emotional
support, while considering relation with their parents
“communication”, “attention” and “presence” are also
highlighted.
RESULTS
• Interpersonal Aspects’ quotes:
• “It’s a person that will be there anytime...(...) It’s the one that is there to
whether good or bad times, like they say, but in fact it’s true, because if
you’re feeling bad, the person will be there for you and if you’re feeling well
the person will also be there”.
“É uma pessoa que ta ali pra toda hora né (...) É uma que ta sempre para as horas boas e
para as ruins, coisa que sempre dizem, mas que na realidade é a verdade porque se tu vai
ta mal ele ta contigo, se tu ta bem também ta contigo. Então acho que é uma questão de
companheirismo”.
RESULTS
• Interpersonal Aspects’ quotes:
• “Our parents are very important when we are young. While we’re young,
while we’re growing, learning and all, they are very important to give us
instructions, to lift us up, to comfort us. And to those who lose their
parents very young it’s hard to manage how to get through it, even for their
children, when becoming adults”.
“Os pais são muito importantes assim principalmente quando a gente é mais jovem. Enquanto a gente
é jovem, que a gente tá crescendo, aprendendo e tal eles são muito importantes pra dar instrução, pra
erguer, pra confortar a gente. E quem perde os pais, muito jovem é meio difícil conseguir passar isso
para os seus filhos quando virar adulto”.
.
RESULTS
• Personal Aspects includes:
– Satisfaction with oneself in physical and psychological
terms
– Life styles: attitudes and activities aiming healthcare and/or
pleasure
– World view: values importantly related to well-being
(empathy, faith, and harmony) constructed by their living
experiences
RESULTS
• Personal Aspects quotes:
“(...) involve things that we appreciate doing, things that are good for us,
that are pleasant. Through our actions we set up the concepts that will
make our personalities.”
“envolve coisas que a gente gosta de fazer, coisas que pra nós é bom, é prazeroso. A
partir de nossas ações a gente vai construindo conceitos que vão construir nossa
personalidade, né”.
RESULTS
• Personal Aspects quotes:
• “(…) If we don’t care and close ourselves into a bubble, it won’t be quality
of life, it’ll be something fake. Sometimes not just the quality of life, but
it’s important to suffer for somebody that doesn’t have the opportunities
you have… let’s say compassion or help, being solidary, it’s also part of
our quality of life.”
“se a gente não se importar e se fechar numa bolha não vai ser qualidade de vida vai ser uma coisa
falsa. Às vezes não só a qualidade de vida mas também é importante sofrer por alguma pessoa
que não tem a oportunidade que tem, digamos compaixão né ou ajudar ser solidário também faz
parte da nossa qualidade de vida.”
RESULTS
• Contextual Aspects includes:
– Material conditions: attends basic needs concerning social
indicators and provides access to better opportunities.
– Formal Education: relevant aspect to the future concerning
social inclusion and carrer opportunities.
RESULTS
• Contextual Aspects quotes:
• “It’s like when you got money, the more you have the better is
the college you get… like in the future you’ll have quality of life
and will also provide it to your children”.
“Que nem quando tu tem dinheiro, tu pode receber uma educação melhor, mais
dinheiro pra uma faculdade melhor... que nem futuramente tu vai ter uma
qualidade de vida de vida e vai proporcionar pro teus filhos uma qualidade de
vida melhor também.”
AMBIVALENCES
• In the categorization process some ambivalences were found:
– Health-Risk Behaviours: relationship with friends offer
support, but can also lead to risky behaviours such as drugs
and alcohol abuse.
– Money: it brings more opportunities, but can also lead to a
distorted world view.
– Social pressure: adolescents felt pressured by social patterns
to act in ways which they don’t feel comfortable with.
DISCUSSION
• The conceptual axes (interpersonal, personal and
contextual aspects) suggest that adolescents comprehend
well-being from a global, holistic perspective, not transitory,
situational.
• Ryff e Keyes (1995) already postulate that well-being is a
multidimensional concept. The authors described it as an
evaluative perspective based on an individual’s
comprehension on it’s life experiences.
DISCUSSION
• Adolescent’s perceptions on their well-being are
influenced by multiple aspects (personal, psychosocial
and contextual), such as perceptions, opinions,
attitudes, representations and evaluations concerning
different scopes (Casas et al, 2004; González, 2005).
DISCUSSION
• Adolescents attribute as much importance to friends as to
their parents. Family support, communication between
parents and children, and limits are perceived as
sensibility towards their feelings, positive involvement
and capability to maintain discipline in a consistent way
(Silveira et al, 2005).
DISCUSSION
• Adolescents’ references to Well-Being are described in terms
of pleasure or happiness referring to Hedonic WellBeing(Ryan & Deci, 2001).
• Participants also made references to value and world vision
development through social acquaintanceship, considering
those aspects as relevant to well-being promotion. Those
references are understood based on Eudemonic Well-Being
perspective which evolves meaning and self-realization of
human potential (Ryan & Deci, 2001).
DISCUSSION
• Today’s life conditions and the access to opportunities are
considered the way to achieve future goals on professional
careers. However, the access to quality education and work
opportunities are not the same to all (Blustein et al 2002).
• Adolescents value education as a way to obtain a high-degree
level profession. Brazilian adolescents tend to have a good
evaluation on the idea of college admission (Sparta & Gomes,
2005), despite of their social class.
FINAL COMMENTS
• Adolescents understand reality in a reflexive, critical way, and
comprehend that their well-being depends on attitudes,
behaviours, showing their ability to take responsibility on
promoting their well-being.
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UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DO RIO GRANDE DO SUL
INSTITUTO DE PSICOLOGIA
PÓS GRADUAÇÃO EM PSICOLOGIA DO DESENVOLVIMENTO
GRUPO DE PESQUISA EM PSICOLOGIA COMUNITÁRIA
Brazilian adolescents’ says on their
well-being and quality of life
Ângela Carina Paradiso, Fabiane Friedrich Schütz, Maíne Alves
Prates, Anelise Lopes Rodrigues, Livia Bedin
Prof. Dr. Jorge Castellá Sarriera