An exploration of occupational choices in adolescence: A constructivist grounded theory study

The process of negotiating and balancing digital play in everyday life: Adolescents' narratives

BACKGROUND

Everyday lives of adolescents reflects a pattern and balance of occupations across the awake-sleep continuum. Despite ongoing discussions regarding overconsumption, play in digital spaces is an occupation of choice for many adolescents.

AIM

To explore and identify how the meaning of playing video games is situated in adolescents' everyday life.

MATERIAL AND METHOD

Five participants aged 16-17 years were recruited. Data was generated through interviews and encounters using recorded clips of their play in digital spaces. Narrative analysis was utilised to explore the stories of adolescent's digital play in everyday life.

RESULTS

The overall plot of 'bridging the divide' represents and symbolises how play in the digital space is integrated in adolescents' everyday life as they negotiate and balance the habits and routines of everyday life. Four storylines help demonstrate the stories told.

CONCLUSION

Playing in digital spaces enabled the participants to be part of an ongoing story where meaning could be negotiated and created. Play was interwoven in the complexity of routines reflecting the importance of examining the integrated whole of adolescents' everyday life.

SIGNIFICANCE

These findings are significant in shifting current assumptions and discourses of how digital play is situated in everyday life.

A Delphi method investigation to prioritize activity-related determinants thought to affect mental health in adolescent populations

INTRODUCTION

Emergent mental illness during adolescence affects daily functioning, causing disruption to daily activities, routines, and patterns. Multiple inter-related personal, social and environmental determinants influence the onset, nature and subsequent course of those difficulties. Research suggests a bi-directional relationship exists between mental health and activity choices. Activity-focused interventions such as occupational therapy may improve adolescent mental health related outcomes. In this study, we identify and select which activity-related determinants should be prioritized in the development of an occupation therapy-based intervention for adolescents with emerging mental health difficulties using expert consensus.

METHOD

A modified two-round Delphi survey method was conducted with occupational therapists and researchers to ascertain a consensus opinion on the prioritization of specific activity-related determinants that influence 16- to 17-year-olds'.

RESULTS

Eighty-nine determinants were identified and prioritized. Fourteen of these were personal activity-related determinants including 'types of activity' in which young people engage, the 'balance of activities' in which they engage, their 'over and under consumptions of activities', and their 'underdeveloped occupation-based coping skills'. The expert panel prioritized 'personal self-confidence', 'values', and 'perception of confidence' in relation to the activities adolescents do.

CONCLUSIONS

This study generated a detailed picture of the activity-related determinants that are important in adolescence, and aligns with the adolescent model of occupational choice. Our findings have potential to inform activity-related intervention development and policy. Further research is needed, particularly to understand young people's perspectives on these determinants and to investigate the determinants that would benefit from further empirical research.