Abstract

Thinking of well-being processes, this thesis has two main lines of inquiry: 1) the theoretical exploration of personal growth, defined as the gradual growth of well-being, and 2) the empirical exploration of well-being processes – students’ sense of self and mental health profiles. Altogether five studies are included in the thesis, two of which are related to the first line of inquiry (articles I and V), and three of which to the second line of inquiry (articles II, III, and IV). The first line of inquiry is the main topic of the thesis, with the overarching aim of 1) integrating parts of the subfields of positive and humanistic psychology (article I) and 2) suggesting a model of personal growth based on Carl Rogers’s (1961) person-centred humanistic theory of therapeutic change operationalized into constructs mainly from positive psychology (article V). The reason for suggesting a model of personal growth is to provide the field of positive psychology and positive education a theory of well-being change that could serve as a potential framework for well-being interventions at schools. For the promotion of well-being, one must know how well-being changes, and this is a gap in the research field that this thesis aims to fill. Facets of this theoretical process are explored in this thesis among adolescents – adolescents’ sense of self and mental health (article II), as well as adolescents’ mental health profiles (article III). Sense of self is developing all throughout adolescence with a conflicting sense of self in early and mid-adolescence, and in later adolescence turning towards more coherence and authenticity, which are aspects of personal growth. We found that that the self-processes of self-awareness and self-compassion are conducive to adolescent authenticity and mental health. Furthermore, adolescent mental health should be understood in a nuanced way through profiles whereby mental health symptoms and well-being are seen as separate continuums, therefore able to co-occur in complex ways. We found five different mental health profiles among adolescents. Article IV is a validation study of one of the adolescent well-being scales we used. This thesis contributes to new theoretical developments and the research surrounding personal growth and adolescent well-being processes. Future research is suggested to take the study of personal growth further with evaluation of the model, building measurement scales, and framing new well-being intervention initiatives from the perspective of personal growth.