A Profile of Adolescent Wellness: Implications for Working With a Help‐Seeking Population

Abstract

This study examined wellness profiles for 114 adolescents receiving counseling services at a local community mental health center. Participants were administered the Five Factor Wellness Inventory‐Teenage Version and their responses were compared with a norm group (n = 1,142). Participants scored significantly lower on 13 of 23 variables assessed.

Wellness and wellness counseling: History, status, and future

“…These and subsequent wellness counseling studies have included culturally diverse samples such as Appalachians (Mynatt et al., 2014), Native Americans (Garrett et al., 2009), Korean Americans (Chang & Myers, 2003), African Americans (Spurgeon, 2009; Spurgeon & Myers, 2010), Caribbean Americans (Mitchell, 2001), Turkish students (Oguz‐Duran & Tezer, 2009), Korean counselors (Jang et al., 2012), as well as gay men (Dew et al., 2005), and lesbian and bisexual women (Degges‐White & Myers, 2006a). With versions for adolescents and adults, the 5F‐Wel has included samples of youth (Watson & Lemon, 2011), college students (Foster et al., 2016), those in middle adulthood (Degges‐White & Myers, 2006b), and older adults (Fullen et al., 2018).…”

Valid and reliable assessment of wellness among adolescents: Do you know what you’re measuring?

“…Scores derived from wellness instruments have been used as both dependent and independent variables to study wellness among youth in relation to diverse psychological constructs and demographic indices; and used across a variety of disciplines including clinical and non-clinical settings. For example: Garrett (1999) used the wellness scores of Native American youth to develop more effective counselling interventions; Myers et al (2011) explored the extent to which wellness factors are predictive of self-esteem; Tatar and Myers (2010) examined cross-cultural differences in wellness between children in Israel and in the United States; Rayle (2005) examined the impact of mattering on adolescent wellness; Choate and Smith (2003) infused a wellness model into the curriculum design of a first-year college course, as a framework to address student needs; Watson and Lemon (2011) compared the wellness responses of adolescents receiving counselling services at a community mental health centre with a norm group; and Smith-Adcock, Webster, Leonard, and Walker (2008) examined a group counselling intervention developed to promote wellness among adolescent girls at risk of delinquency.…”