As previously discussed there are considerable challenges for researchers in studying well-being. The term well-being in this study is intended to represent a hypothetical continuum, anchored at the ‘wellness’ end with an opposing term such as pathology. The well-being concepts and measures in this study relate to investigations of
problem behaviour and adverse health behaviours such as drinking and smoking, but also include positive terms such as life satisfaction. While this study does not include physiological indicators of health such as blood pressure, adolescence is a pivotal period of development with respect to health and illness, during which time many positive health behaviours (e.g. diet and exercise) are consolidated (Turbin et al., 2006).
The objective of the study was to examine the interconnections and relationship of factors in adolescent’s lives to add to the knowledge of young people’s well-being.
61 2.8.2 Research questions
The first gap in the literature is understanding the concept of the neighbourhood from the perspective of adolescents and young people. Further research is needed utilising a variety of methods to examine the qualities within a neighbourhood which influence teenagers’ health and well-being. The thesis aims to contribute too reducing the gap in the literature regarding how to represent the construct of the neighbourhood as it is perceived by adolescents. Chaskin, (1997), highlighted the importance of examining the neighbourhood through a lens which investigates social connections as well as the geographical and spatial construction of the neighbourhood. Research examining both the neighbourhood structural and social influences and the interplay of different
contexts on adolescent outcomes would support better understanding about the factors important for teenagers’ health.
A second gap in the literature is attention to the positive aspects of well-being rather than defining it as the absence of problems. The thesis, using multiple methods, extends the concept of well-being by taking a pluralistic theoretical perspective of studying youth’s well-being from an orientation of wellness and exploring the
underlying pathways within the neighbourhood which influence adolescent well-being. This perspective contrasts to the prevalent perspective in research which has a problem orientation. The thesis views adolescents as active agents, who are able to advance their own healthy development, interacting with neighbourhood contexts crucial for faring well. This translates in the research questions into exploring positive concepts of life satisfaction, prosocial behaviour and positive health behaviours typical of adolescents who wish to keep themselves in good shape (p137) as well as
negative influences on well-being such as health risk behaviours and emotional problems.
62 Researchers studying neighbourhood influences often focus on the negative aspects of the environment e.g. the influence of neighbourhood crime on children’s well-being. Aber and Nieto’s (2000) Pluralistic Neighbourhood theory provides an approach to redressing this perspective when studying adolescents (Chapter 2, p26). In response to this, the following research question using multiple methods are posited:
Research question 1 - What neighbourhood phenomena, from adolescents’ perspectives, are important for understanding adolescents’ health and well-being?
Well-being in the study is represented as a hypothetical continuum, anchored at the ‘wellness’ end with an opposing endpoint labelled with a term such as pathology. The well-being concepts and measures in the study relate to investigations of
psychological adjustment, life satisfaction, prosocial behaviour, positive health behaviours such as adolescents keeping themselves in good shape as well as problem behaviours and adverse health behaviours such as drinking and smoking.
Question 1 is addressed in study 1 by enquiry from the teenagers’ perspectives about what were the important things in their neighbourhood for them to have a good life.
Question 2 is addressed in study 2 exploring the influence of structural and social components of the neighbourhood including enquiry into adolescent volunteering and questions about positive aspects of the neighbourhood such as good places for youth to spend their free time.
A third gap in the literature is the influence of the neighbourhood structural aspect, greenness and the opportunity for physical activity on well-being. Although a
considerable literature exists on adults well-being outcomes from contact with nature, little is known about youths’ perspectives about greenness, outside space and
physical activity as an important structural contributor to children’s health and well- being:
63 Research questions 3 - What do young people’s reports add to our understanding of green space and physical activity?
This question was addressed through Study 1 which explored, from adolescents’ perspectives, the qualitative importance of physical activity and opportunities for green space for youths’ well-being.
Fourth, there is a lack of studies using a frame of neighbourhood research for investigating, in English multicultural towns and rural villages, the role of ethnicity on adolescents’ health and well-being. To explore the role of ethnicity as defined by the adolescents themselves the following research question is posed:
Research question 4 - What is the influence of the ethnic background on adolescent health and well-being? This is addressed in study 2 comparing participants from a multicultural large town and in teenagers from a predominately white rural village.
A fifth gap is clarification of the pathways through which different neighbourhood structural and social factors and the micros-system of family and peers with individual characteristics interact to influence adolescent health and well-being. A study in the Netherlands by Drukker, (2003) discussed the need for a multiple-influence
transactional model to explain specific pathways for the influence of different neighbourhood factors on children’s health. Further studies are necessary through pathway analysis to explore the underlying neighbourhood mechanisms to illuminate the indirect relationships relevant for child outcomes. To address this the following questions are explored:
Research question 5 – what are the underlying processes within the neighbourhood which influence adolescent health and well-being? This is addressed in study 2 by the examination using pathway analysis of the indirect effects implicated in adolescent health and well-being outcomes.
64 Finally, a sixth gap is that to date research studies concerned with the neighbourhood as an important context for adolescent well-being has focused primarily either on adult or youth reports but not on the relationships between parents’ and children’s
perspective of the neighbourhood. A research question exploring agreement between parents and their children about the neighbourhood and well-being contributes to understanding:
Research question 6 – (a) do parents and their children agree about the neighbourhood? and (b) will adolescents in families with more parent and child agreement about neighbourhood collective efficacy report better health and well- being?
65