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Perceived Quality of Life Research on Children and Youth: Implications for a System of National Indicators

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The Well-Being of America's Children

Part of the book series: Children’s Well-Being: Indicators and Research ((CHIR,volume 6))

Abstract

Both the popular and social science literatures have tended to focus attention on the negative aspects of the status of children and youth, particularly youth in the USA. Literature abounds on such topics as the stresses of adolescence, risk behaviors, behavior problems, dysfunctional parent–child relationships, and so forth. Recently, several research initiatives have emerged that have shifted the focus to positive aspects of children and youth, such as the Positive Psychology, Positive Youth Development and Quality of Life (QOL) perspectives. From these perspectives, the status of children and youth should not be evaluated from simple dichotomous perspectives (e.g., health is the absence of disease) but rather from broader and more differentiated views. According to the Commission on Positive Youth Development (2005, p. 498), there is “a huge difference between a teenager who is not depressed or anxious and one who bounds out of bed in the morning with twinkling eyes; and between an adolescent who says no to drugs and one who says yes to meaningful involvement in family, school, and community activities.” From such a perspective, evaluations of child and adolescent well-being, including national indexes, require a focus on strengths, interests, and future potential as well as the traditional focus on symptoms, disorders, risk behaviors, and problems in general. Within such a context, calls have been issued for more comprehensive assessments of the health, well-being, and overall “status” of children and youth (Huebner et al. 2004).

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  1. Department of Psychology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA

    E. Scott Huebner, Susan P. Antaramian & Ashley Lewis Heffner

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  1. E. Scott Huebner
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  2. Susan P. Antaramian
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  1. Dept. Sociology, Duke University, Department of Sociology, Durham, 27708-0097, North Carolina, USA

    Kenneth C. Land

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Huebner, E.S., Antaramian, S.P., Heffner, A.L. (2012). Perceived Quality of Life Research on Children and Youth: Implications for a System of National Indicators. In: Land, K. (eds) The Well-Being of America's Children. Children’s Well-Being: Indicators and Research, vol 6. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4092-1_5

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