Happiness as a strength in the promotion of adolescent and adult young health

to assess the relation between sociodemographic characteristics of young people associated with the subjectivity of being happy; to evaluate the relationship between the subjectivity of being happy and the perception of health status; to evaluate the relationship between the subjectivity of being happy and the school and family environments and peer groups at school.

Methods:

this is an observational study, with an intentional sample of 1,069 young Portuguese people, with ages varying from 14 to 24, most of them women, attending secondary education. The self-filling questionnaire was used.

Results:

there are statistically significant associations between the subjectivity of being happy and schooling, perception of health status, family APGAR, school and family involvement, absence of problems or teasing by peers at school.

Conclusions:

a positive and holistic care coupled with the potential of obtaining and consolidating healthy lifestyles for young people will enable health professionals to perceive them as agents of individual and social change.

Descriptors:
Health Promotion; Nursing; Happiness; Adolescent Behavior; Young Adult.

		Group A		Group B		p value
		n	%	n	%	p value
Gender	Female	476	56.3	439	57.5	0.607
Gender	Male	370	43.7	324	42.5	0.607
Age	Under 16	331	39.1	272	35.6	0.284
	16 to 18	449	53.1	421	55.2
	Over 18	66	7.8	70	9.2
Education	10^th grade	244	29.28	246	32.5	0.021
	11^th grade	219	26.22	226	29.9
	12^th grade	255	30.54	207	27.4
	Undergraduate Certificate	118	14.1	77	10.2

		Group A		Group B		p value
		n	%	n	%	p value
Health status	Excellent	205	24.3	122	16.0	0.000
	Great	366	43.4	325	42.7
	Good	259	30.7	298	39.2
	Bad	13	1.5	14	1.8
	Really bad	1	0.1	2	0.3

		Group A		Group B		p value
		n	%	n	%	p value
School performance	Great	79	9.4	60	8.0	0.686
	Good	398	47.6	358	47.9
	Enough	328	39.2	306	40.9
	Not enough	31	3.7	24	3.2
Level of involvement	High	167	91.3	153	90.0	0.685
Level of involvement	On average	16	8.7	17	10.0	0.685

		Group A		Group B		p value
		n	%	n	%	p value
Family typology	Nuclear family	553	73.6	495	72.2	0.234
	Single-parent family	67	8.9	78	11.4
	Extended family	94	12.5	69	10.1
	Reconstructed family	13	1.7	16	2.3
	Another typology	24	3.2	28	4.1
Family APGAR	Functional	699	84.6	538	71.7	0.000
	Moderately functional	113	13.7	160	21.3
	Dysfunctional	14	1.7	52	6.9
Level of involvement with the family	High	338	40.0	256	33.6	0.001
	On average	434	51.3	402	52.7
	Low	74	8.7	105	13.8

		Group A		Group B		p value
		n	%	n	%	p value
Having problems with classmates	With all	4	0.5	5	0.7	0.000
	With some	52	6.2	89	11.9
	With one or two	155	18.4	164	21.9
	With no one	632	75.0	492	65.6
Feeling provoked by classmates	Often	3	0.4	10	1.3	0.000
	Sometimes	69	8.2	102	13.5
	Never	772	91.5	642	85.1
Level of involvement with peer groups	High	520	61.5	476	62.4	0.678
	On average	135	16.0	128	16.8
	Low	191	22.6	159	20.8

Associação Brasileira de Enfermagem SGA Norte Quadra 603 Conj. "B" - Av. L2 Norte 70830-102 Brasília, DF, Brasil, Tel.: (55 61) 3226-0653, Fax: (55 61) 3225-4473 - Brasília - DF - Brazil
E-mail: reben@abennacional.org.br

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[1] Corresponding author: Firmina Hermelinda Saldanha Albuquerque. E-mail: hermelindaanjo@hotmail.com