Abstract
ABSTRACTMany 15- to 16-year-old adolescents in Scandinavian countries have to move away from home to live in lodgings during senior high school. This transition might affect the adolescents’ well-being and mental health, with the risk of dropping out of school and/or potential mental health problems. This study aims to explore what adolescents experience to be of importance and helpful for their well-being through their lives in lodgings during senior high school. Qualitative, in-depth interviews were performed among 21 adolescents from the ages of 16 to 18 of both genders living in lodgings in a Norwegian county. Eleven interviews were performed in 2008 and 10 interviews performed in 2016. Interviews were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Two main categories and six subcategories were identified as important for well-being: (1) Conditions for well-being, me and my surroundings: (a) practical support; (b) relational support; (c) convenient housing; and (d) supportive class environment. (2) Strategies for well-being, me and myself: (a) practical strategies, and (b) strategies facing challenges. Adolescents living in lodgings experience several conditions in their surroundings to be of importance for their well-being, based on which they develop their own strategies to feel well. Implications towards promoting and strengthen their well-being are discussed.
Highlights
In some Western countries, adolescents from the age of 15–16 leave junior high school to attend senior high school
In exploring what adolescents living in lodgings during senior high school experience to be of importance for their well-being, two categories and six subcategories were identified: (1) Conditions for well-being, me and my surroundings: (a) practical support; (b) relational support; (c) convenient housing; and (d) supportive class environment
The first main category can be described as preconditions for well-being, a foundation in terms of positive transitions and what the adolescents experience they need from their surroundings to feel well, manage their lives and be able to carry out the “project” of living in lodgings
Summary
In some Western countries, adolescents from the age of 15–16 leave junior high school to attend senior high school. Leaving home at an early age entails different kinds of transitions, and moving away from home at this age, while simultaneously attending a new school, seems to affect adolescents’ well-being, creating the risk of dropping out of school and/or potential mental health problems (Markussen, 2005, 2011). A Norwegian study found that students living in lodgings during senior high school were vulnerable to stress and internalizing problems compared to students living with their parents (Wannebo & Wichstrøm, 2010). A Norwegian study, exploring the meaning of living in lodgings during senior high school, illuminated a multidimensional transition among the lodgers, suggesting that they strive between contrasting experiences related to time, social life, independence development and self (Wannebo, Devik, & Uhrenfeldt, 2017). Adolescents at the age of 15–18 living in lodgings may experience vulnerability regarding their own wellbeing and health throughout senior high school
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