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 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.
['Wiens|Varpu|V|', 'Kyngäs|Helvi|H|', 'Pölkki|Tarja|T|']
D000293:Adolescent D000294:Adolescent Behavior D001294:Attitude to Health D005260:Female D005387:Finland D006304:Health Status D006801:Humans D007398:Interpersonal Relations D010549:Personal Satisfaction D036301:Qualitative Research D011788:Quality of Life D018570:Risk Assessment D012924:Social Conditions D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
descriptive girl well-being content analysis gender