A functional model explaining the dynamics of flourishing during adolescence: an interpretative phenomenological analysis
ISSN: 1443-9883
Article publication date: 10 January 2022
Issue publication date: 13 July 2022
Abstract
Purpose
The objectives of the study were to explore the lived experiences of adolescents for understanding the process of their flourishing and develop a functional model to explain the dynamics of flourishing during adolescence.
Design/methodology/approach
Guided by the qualitative approach, the authors used interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to explore how various factors affect the process of flourishing during adolescence. The authors conducted in-depth interviews with 10 adolescents to collect qualitative data.
Findings
A total of eight boosters (four internal and four external) and seven barriers (five internal and two external) emerged. The results highlighted the importance of a functional model that explained the dynamics of adolescents' flourishing. Though the authors conceded that the presence of boosters and absence of barriers were instrumental in enhancing flourishing during adolescence, based on the extant literature, the authors assumed the existence and operation of other intra-individual and inter-individual factors or correlates.
Research limitations/implications
First, the study participants are school-going adolescents living in a supported urban family environment where expectations to study and achieve are an important cultural component. Second, the study has focussed on the participants belonging to late adolescence—a transitional phase to emerging adulthood.
Practical implications
There are three implications of the study—theoretical (conceptualisation of a functional model), practical (construction of a new measure of flourishing) and clinical (designing intervention programmes to enhance positive living in adolescents).
Originality/value
The study has provided a deeper insight into adolescents' flourishing from insiders' perspectives using the framework of IPA and discovered and elaborated a functional model of adolescents' flourishing.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to express gratitude to all the participants for their active participation. The authors are thankful to Indian Council of Social Science Research for awarding doctoral fellowship to the first author for completing doctoral research. The authors are also thankful to the authorities of the educational institutions for permitting to work with the students and providing the logistic support.
Funding: The first author has received a doctoral fellowship from the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), Ministry of Education, Government of India, New Delhi-110067, India.
Ethical Statement and Informed Consent: This article is a modified excerpt from the doctoral thesis of the first author. Approval for the study was granted by the Institutional Ethics Committee of the University of Hyderabad. There were no potential risks involved for the participants. Informed consent (informed assent in case of below 18-year-old) was obtained from the participants for being included in the study before the conduct of the study. The informed consent/assent form primarily consisted of the purpose of the study, participant's voluntary participation and withdrawal, absence of any potential risks and confidentiality.
Data availability: The data sets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Conflict of interest: The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.
Citation
Nandinee, D., Rana, S. and Seema, N. (2022), "A functional model explaining the dynamics of flourishing during adolescence: an interpretative phenomenological analysis", Qualitative Research Journal, Vol. 22 No. 3, pp. 277-293. https://doi.org/10.1108/QRJ-08-2021-0086
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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