The Qualitative Findings of the Study: Themes and Subthemes
Chapter Five provides the themes of the study and presents the data as obtained from the students and teachers. The chapter concludes with a summary of the results of all the qualitative data.
Student Experiences and Understandings
The student focus group data were framed into three categories of themes, and these included understanding wellness themes, the relationship between wellness and development theme and the moderating influences of wellness themes.
Table 5.1 provides details of the student focus group participants. Table 5.1
The Number and Gender of Student Focus Group Participants
Focus Groups #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 Number of students and Gender 4(3f, 1m) 8(8f) 4(4m) 3(3f) 3(3m)
As indicated in Table 5.1, the focus groups were composed of twice as many females perspectives: females=14, male=8. However, the majority of male participants did not hesitate to discuss their perceptions of wellness. This information has been provided for the purpose of presenting demographic data. There were no gender-based comparisons in this study. In order to maintain anonymity, I have referred to the students’ responses based on the focus group number in which the student participated.
Understanding of Wellness Themes
In each of the focus group discussions I asked “what does wellness mean to you,” and the themes identified were organized into the category titled Understanding of Wellness Themes. Three themes were identified in this category, and these included Wellness Definitions, The Multidimensions of Wellness and The Characteristics of a Well Person.
Wellness Definitions
Participants in each of the focus group discussions defined the term wellness. This discussion was initially focused on the physical aspects of wellness. However, student comments moved the dialogue beyond the physical component.
Examples of student statements provided to the researcher are:
• Wellness is someone being at peace with himself/herself. (F#1) • Wellness is health. (F#2)
• Wellness is when your body is well. (F#2)
• Wellness is what you do to keep your body well, like eating healthy and exercising. (F#2)
• Wellness is being comfortable with who you are. I know when we had gym and everyone was like, oh I don’t want to go swimming because of my body. You have to be comfortable with who you are to exercise and eat healthy. (F#2)
• Wellness is getting in shape physically or mentally even. (F#3)
• Wellness is a lifestyle, physical exercise and keeping your body in shape. (F#3)
• Wellness is a state of mind. (F#3)
• Wellness is how you feel about yourself and how others feel about you. If you feel good about yourself, then you will feel well. (F#4)
• Wellness is being comfortable with who you are and not having to hide anything or pretend to be something you’re not. (F#4)
• Wellness is a fancy way of saying gym. Getting daily exercise and staying healthy. Eating right and staying fit so you don’t become a couch potato with a big belly. (F#5)
Student comments reflected on the physical and psychological aspects of wellness. Wellness was defined as “physical exercise and “eating healthy.” There were also remarks relating to the importance of “keeping the body in shape or healthy.” However, the definition of wellness moved beyond the physical dimensions as students’ expressed that wellness was “feeling good about yourself,” or a “state of mind.” Student
perceptions focused on the psychological dimension and there was a prevalent sense that feelings and beliefs were an important factor affecting wellness.
The Multidimensions of Wellness
The participants’ understanding of wellness broadened when they engaged further into the discussion as students repeatedly referred to wellness as a combination of the developmental dimensions. However, there were varying opinions on the importance and particulars of the combinations.
Examples of student statements provided to the researcher are:
• Wellness is a combination of all the components, not just one. Like when you’re eating healthy and you’re exercising regularly and you have healthy relationships. (F#2)
• Wellness is a combination of physically, emotionally, mentally, all that stuff. Spiritually. (F#3)
• Wellness is a combination of physical and also psychological and stuff. (F#3)
• I think your self-esteem kind of acts as the balance. Cause self-esteem is the thing that’s connected to all of them ‘cause like self-esteem will lead to all. So I think the higher the self-esteem the more those things will be balanced. (F#5)
A few of the students’ comments exemplified the relationship between adolescent development and wellness. For these students, wellness was more than the simplified thought of being physically active and eating well. These remarks suggested that the
adolescents perceived wellness as multidimensional, and these included physical, spiritual, psychological and social.
The Characteristics of a Well Person
As exemplified by the students’ statements below, the youth described what a well person would be doing or looks like. Thus, the focus of wellness evolved into the characteristics of a well person.
Examples of student statements provided to the researcher are:
• Well people are happy with what they’re doing and who they are. (F#1) • Well people are healthy and active, but I also think there’s a mental sort of
spiritual wellness where you are okay with yourself, and you’re not afraid to let people know who you are and what you stand for. (F#1)
• Well people are taking good care of him or herself. (F#1)
• Well people are people that have gone through struggles to get to be the person that you are going to be. (F#1)
• Well people are at peace with themselves, kind of a peace of where they are in their life, circumstances they have, their abilities, just being okay with that. (F#1)
• Well people are okay with themselves. (F#1)
• A well person could be anyone, anyone who basically is happy with themself and with all aspects of their life. (F#1)
• Well people are taking care of their body. They are not overeating or eating junk food. No drugs, smoking, or alcohol. (F#2)
• Well people are people that know themselves, and they do a lot better cause you can tell when people don’t know themselves because they might make a choice they didn’t want to make just because other people pushed it, and they’ll regret it and at least when you know who you are and what you want to do that…shouldn’t be a problem for you….and…they’ll just be content no matter how things go kind of thing. (F#4).
These student comments reflected many important characteristics of a well person. There was one participant who suggested wellness included a healthy lifestyle of eating
nutritious food and regular exercise. However, as the students continued in the
discussion, it was clear that there were students who felt that wellness extended beyond the physical dimension. Wellness was described as a combination of factors (physical,
emotional, mental and spiritual), and there were comments reflecting that well people were taking care of their body. The students referred to well people as being okay or happy with themselves and their circumstances. Finally, wellness was understood as simply being at peace with oneself.
The Relationship Between Wellness and Development Themes The participants reflected on the relationship between wellness and the
developmental dimensions. These students’ perceptions revolved around the expansion of their understandings of wellness. The prevalent theme that emerged from the data was labeled Balancing the Dimensions of Wellness. A student (F#5) stated:
In the end they’re all intertwined with like lifestyle or how you eat, how you’re physically active. If you’re good in one area, it’s going to eventually lead you to be good in the other. If you have a good lifestyle or if you eat well, you’re going to be healthier, and even if you’re not active, and then eventually you’ll be more open to being active. …it’s all connected in the end.
This same student elaborated (F#5):
If you’re physically fit you might have better self-esteem because you find yourself maybe more attractive then that will lead to being more social. If you’re more social then you might have higher self-esteem so you could…maybe become more spiritual, they’re all connected, they’re all integrated and they’ll all kind of level each other out.
For this student, the dimensions of wellness were all connected and self-esteem provided the balance. Higher self-esteem was associated with “being more social, active, eating well and spiritual” (F#5).
Other students articulated their perceptions that wellness was about having balance in life. One student stated (F#1):
Wellness is about balance with the different parts of your life. Balance in what you eat and a balance in how active you are, and then there is the spiritual and emotional balance there too.
No disagreements were expressed in this focus group that wellness was “a balance act,” and each of the developmental dimensions (physical, spiritual, psychological and social) were perceived as equally important. Another student (F#4) expressed:
I think it has to do with all four aspects: physical, emotional, spiritual and social and balancing them all out to have a good lifestyle. If you’re too active and your not having enough time for spiritual, then you need to balance it out.
Finally, a student agreed (F#4), “I think it’s good to be physically active and to have a balance too, because if you’re in too much to any of those sides you can get really stressed and then you’re not well anymore.”
In sum, for several of the participants, wellness involved a balancing of the dimensions of wellness. There was an understanding among many of the youth that wellness was more than just physical health since most considered spirituality, psychological and social development as being instrumental to the enhancement of wellness. Moreover, several students agreed that the failure to achieve such balance would result in stress and feelings of a lack of wellness.
The Moderating Influences of Wellness Themes
The Moderating Influencing Factors of Wellness Themes were further divided into sub-categories (physical, spiritual, psychological and social) of themes. In each of the focus group discussions I asked the students to define each of the developmental dimensions. Thus, there were four themes identified that were related to the definitions
of the adolescent developmental dimensions (physical, spiritual, psychological and social).
Moderating Influences of Physical Development Themes
Physical development was identified by the majority of student participants as an important dimension of wellness. I asked the question “what is physical development to you” and within this discussion, the theme understandings of physical development was identified.
Understanding of Physical Development
The participants in each of the focus group discussions defined the term physical development. Students spoke very openly about their beliefs of what physical
development was and what physical development was not. Thus, their responses were organized into two categories which were Physical Development is and Physical Development is not.
Physical Development Is
As indicated in the statements below, the students’ definitions of physical development were generally focused on what was required to develop and maintain a healthy body.
Examples of student statements provided to the researcher are:
• Physical Development is physical activity that strains you to the point where you grow physically, become stronger and develop stamina. (F#5) • Physically Development is being physically fit. (F#5)
• Physically Development is eating healthy and exercising. (F#2) • Physically Development is being healthy and active. (F#1)
These findings suggested that these youth felt physical development was about exercising regularly and healthy eating.
Physical Development Is Not
Students expressed their perceptions of what physical development was not. Examples of student statements provided to the researcher are:
• Physical Development is not smoking, using drugs and alcohol. (F#2) • Physical Development is not going to gym class and having to compete.
(F#4)
These students further elaborated on their understanding by stating physical development was not smoking, using drugs and alcohol. There were also several participants in focus group #4 who firmly believed that physical development was not enhanced by organized physical education classes.
Influences of Physical Development
Several themes within the physical developmental dimension emerged from the focus group discussions; these were influences of physical activity, nutrition,
drugs/alcohol, body weight and parent/guardian.
Influence of Physical Activity
Participants felt that physical activity had a significant influence on physical development. A student (F#4) disclosed that physical activity was used as a stress outlet:
I dance for an hour every Friday…and if I’m feeling like really stressed then…like the energy that I put into the dance and like the movement and stuff it calms me and it helps me feel better about myself and the stress just kind of goes away.
Another related (F#4):
Physical activity is a stress relief, I like running long distance so if I’m really stressed…I’ll go out for a jog or I’ll even go biking if I’m like really upset about something, the first thing I want to do is bike.
Other students expressed the view that sports and physical activities would assist to develop the other adolescent developmental dimensions. For example (F#2):
Most people get into sports and they meet people at sports or you join a team because hey, let’s go play ultimate Frisbee together and they have never done it before but they go. So if you have friends there you’ll have more fun, you’ll like it more and you’ll keep doing it.
For these students, physical activity was a good stress relief. The remark, “the energy that I put into the dance and like the movement and stuff it calms me and it helps me feel better about myself”, reflected the student’s perception that physical activity positively influenced her self-esteem. Furthermore, the last comment revealed that the youth perceived sports and teams as a method of building peer relationships.
Influence of Nutrition
Nutrition was also identified as an influencing factor of physical development. One student stated (F#5):
Well considering food is a direct influence on how much you weigh and whether that is a healthy weight or not, yeah, there’s no way that it doesn’t. You get all of your body fat and all of your energy from what you eat and drink…Yeah, I don’t get how that could not affect your wellness.
Another expressed (F#4):
Some people like they don’t get overweight because like their body can handle all that fat but they’re still not in shape and they still don’t feel good about themselves so you have to like not only just be active and eat the right foods.
For one participant, there was a sense that poor nutrition affected other adolescent developmental dimensions. One student stated (F#4):
If you go to fast foods and stuff it’s just the wrong food to eat because that’s when you can get overweight and like for me, if I’m going to be, if I’m not going to be
very active one day and decide to eat some really greasy food then I just…feel bad and I just feel sick so I guess it kind of affects your mental health.
For this student, poor nutrition affected more than her physical health but also her mental wellness.
However, a few voices expressed that nutrition did not really affect wellness or, if so, only momentarily. One student related (F#3):
Depends on the body, it’s like temporarily. I notice if I, whatever, eat a greasy burger right before playing hockey I don’t play as good but if I regularly, like not regularly but if I have McDonalds Tuesday, Wednesday and then Thursday I eat pasta and have a game I don’t notice the McDonalds slowing me down at all.
For this student the effects of fast food were temporary. His comment reflected his belief that as long as he was physically active, he could eat unlimited fast food without any effects to his sporting ability.
Influence of Smoking, Drugs and Alcohol
Several students identified smoking, using drugs and alcohol as an influence on an adolescent’s overall sense of wellness. A few students expressed the view that there were not only physical problems from smoking, drugs and alcohol, but there are multiple effects. One youth expressed the view (F#4):
I think marijuana affects like all aspects of wellness because…like all drugs do because you can’t feel good about yourself. Cause with drugs it’s like they make you feel really good and you can never feel like a normal person would after that so it…like it makes you really low and you can’t…seem to feel good about yourself.
Another student shared (F#4):
I definitely think it’s negative because like it just seems if you have friends that do it, it’s really hurtful to you because you know it doesn’t help you and they’re spending all this money on this thing that’s not helping them with their future and
the funny thing is, its stopping them from accomplishing everything they can so it just seems really pointless to me. I think it hurts so many aspects ‘cause it hurts your family and it hurts your health because you probably don’t eat as well if you’re doing drugs, like you’re always thinking about drugs and not food and different things so it’s just not positive thing at all to me.
Other students identified the physical effects (F#5), “drugs and alcohol can affect your physical wellness, smoking, it can destroy your lungs which makes it harder to breath, and that’ll basically affect their life.” A female student (F#1) referred to drugs and alcohol as a “poison.”
These findings clearly indicated that the students were cognizant of the effects of smoking and using drugs and alcohol. The students suggested that smoking affected physical wellness by limiting lung capacity and that alcohol was a “poison.” Almost all the participants felt the alcohol/drugs affected all aspects of wellness including their peer and family relationships and the youths’ feelings of themselves.
A few participants concluded that the effects of smoking, drinking and drugs may not have immediate consequences (F#5):
I think it would be gradual and it wouldn’t be like…it wouldn’t be as apparent but it would in the long run. If someone starts smoking one day they’re not going to just stop running and everything immediately. It’s going to be a bit of a process. It is not so much doing them that would affect it but choosing to do them instead of doing a physical activity.
Another student stated (F#2):
The thing about drugs and smoking is I think that you’ll start smoking and then you’ll play a sport and then you’ll keep smoking and gradually you’ll lose your, like your wellness, your physical ability to do the sport and then gradually, since it’s an addiction, you’ll take smoking over the sport.
Two students felt that youth who smoke and do drugs could still be active or participate in physical activity. However, as the student becomes addicted to drugs or smoking then “gradually you’ll lose your wellness or your physical ability to do the