Amended Thesis Dodge 2016

420 Pages·2016·7.1 MB·English

Enhancing wellbeing – Evaluating an Intervention for Further Education Students

Enhancing wellbeing – Evaluating an Intervention for Further Education Students
Rachel Suzanne Dodge BA (Hons) Ed QTS, MA (Ed)

Thesis submitted to the Department of Applied Psychology of
Cardiff School of Health Sciences in partial fulfilment
of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Director of Studies: Dr Lalage Sanders
Second Supervisor: Dr Jan Huyton
Third Supervisor: Dr Annette Daly

Date of Submission: February 2016

This research was undertaken under the auspices of Cardiff Metropolitan University
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Enhancing wellbeing – Evaluating an Intervention for Further Education Students

DECLARATION
This work has not previously been accepted in substance for any degree and is not
being concurrently submitted in candidature for any degree.
Signed ...................................................................... (candidate)
Date ..........................................................................

STATEMENT 1
This thesis is the result of my own investigations, except where otherwise stated.
Where correction services have been used, the extent and nature of the correction
is clearly marked in a footnote(s).
Other sources are acknowledged by footnotes giving explicit references. A
bibliography is appended.
Signed ..................................................................... (candidate)
Date .........................................................................

STATEMENT 2
I hereby give consent for my thesis, if accepted, to be available for photocopying
and for inter-library loan, and for the title and summary to be made available to
outside organisations.
Signed ..................................................................... (candidate)
Date .........................................................................

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Enhancing wellbeing – Evaluating an Intervention for Further Education Students

DEDICATION
This thesis is dedicated to Andy, Josh and Carys.
Thank you for your patience, support and encouragement.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Firstly I would like to extend sincere thanks to my supervisory team, Drs Lalage
Sanders, Jan Huyton and Annette Daly, for their encouragement, support and
advice, and more importantly their optimism and enthusiasm throughout the
course of my research. You have never doubted my ability; even at times when I
doubted myself.
I would like to thank all my wonderful friends, family and work colleagues for the
support and understanding they have shown me throughout my PhD. Thank you to
Josh and Carys for allowing me to hide away and study. You have never made me
feel guilty about the time away from you and for that I will be forever grateful.
Special thanks to my husband Andy who has been with me throughout the whole
process. You have always been patient, kind, supportive and encouraging. Without
your support I would never had got this far.
I would also like to extend my thanks and gratitude to the academic, technical and
administrative staff of the Schools of Health Sciences who have provided a range of
assistance and support. In particular I would like to thank Dr Andy Watts who, along
with Dr Lalage Sanders, supported me with statistics; an area that I thought I would
never conquer!

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Abstract
Wellbeing is an emerging science. However, there are a number of differing views
regarding how to define it as a concept, whether it is able to be measured and the
potential for enhancing it at an individual level. The aim of this research is to
investigate the effectiveness of a pastoral intervention programme designed to
enhance the wellbeing of Further Education (FE) students.
The mixed methods evaluation study reported here selected a sample of (N = 244)
FE students who undertook a ten-week pastoral intervention programme delivered
by their tutors that aimed to highlight the strategies they could employ to increase
their personal resource bank. The Wellbeing in Further Education Students Survey
(WFESS) was used to measure the students’ perception of how resourced and
challenged they felt in ten life areas, alongside the impact of challenges they faced
and the level of strategies they used to deal with the challenges. This measure was
taken before and after the intervention.
The results highlight a significant increase in the perception of feeling resourced
following the intervention. Feedback from the delivery team of tutors highlighted
a number of aspects of the intervention programme that received positive feedback
from the students. The tutors also noted that the intervention had some positive
effects in terms of enhancing their own wellbeing.
A number of limitations occurred during the research. Access both to the students
and the tutors involved in the programme was restricted. However, this research
offers a significant step towards the use of intervention programmes with FE to
enhance the wellbeing of students and staff, through the increase of awareness of
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personal resource strategies that can be employed to counteract the challenges
they face in life.

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DEFINITION OF TERMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
BERA British Educational Research Association
EMA Educational Maintenance Allowance
ESTYN The education and training inspectorate for Wales.
FE Further Education
GDP Gross domestic product
L6 Lower Sixth (students generally aged between 16 and
17)
OFSTED The Office for Standards in Education, Children's
Services and Skills in England.
ONS Office of National Statistics
PCI Personal Concerns Inventory (Cox and Klinger, 2002)
PSHE Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education
SDQ The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire
(Goodman, 1997)
U6 Upper Sixth (students generally aged between 17 and
18)
WAG Welsh Assembly Government
WFESS Wellbeing in Further Education Students Survey
WG Welsh Government
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Published papers and conference presentations
Co-authored publications:
• Dodge, R., Daly, A., Huyton, J., Sanders, L. (2012). The challenge of defining
wellbeing. International Journal of Wellbeing, 2(3), 222-235.
• Wassell. E. and Dodge. R. (2015) A Multidisciplinary Framework for
Measuring and Improving Wellbeing. International Journal of Sciences: Basic
and Applied Research Volume 21, No 2, pp 97-107
Publications:
• Dodge, R (2015) All secondary schools could do with a head of well-being
The Conversation 7th January https://theconversation.com/all-secondary-
schools-could-do-with-a-head-of-well-being-35874
Conference presentations:
• Poster presented at the British Psychological Society Welsh Branch
Conference on Sustainable Well-Being in September 2011 (Defining
Wellbeing).
• Oral presentation on ‘Developing a measure of wellbeing for college
students’ at the Second International Wellbeing and Public Policy
Conference, Hamilton College, New York in June, 2014.

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Contents
Chapter One ........................................................................................................................... 1
Introduction – Research Rationale ..................................................................................... 1
1.2 Why wellbeing? ............................................................................................................ 4
1.2.1 Philosophy ................................................................................................................. 5
1.2.2 Psychology................................................................................................................. 5
1.2.3 Policy ......................................................................................................................... 6
1.2.4 Wellbeing of young people ....................................................................................... 8
1.2.5 Adolescence ............................................................................................................ 12
1.3 Wellbeing in Further Education .................................................................................. 13
1.4 Theoretical approach to enhancing wellbeing ........................................................... 15
1.5 Aims and Objectives of this Research ......................................................................... 17
1.5.1 Research aim ........................................................................................................... 17
1.5.2 Objectives................................................................................................................ 17
1.6 Thesis statement ........................................................................................................ 18
1.7 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 20
1.8 Summary .................................................................................................................... 20
Chapter Two – Defining wellbeing ....................................................................................... 22
2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 22
2.2 The historical background to wellbeing research ....................................................... 23
2.3 What constitutes wellbeing? ...................................................................................... 24
2.4 Equilibrium ................................................................................................................. 30
2.5 Challenges .................................................................................................................. 32
2.6 Resources ................................................................................................................... 34
2.7 A new definition of wellbeing .................................................................................... 36
2.8 The considered strengths of the new definition ........................................................ 40
2.8.1 Simplicity ................................................................................................................. 40
2.8.2 Universal application ............................................................................................... 41
2.8.3 Optimism ................................................................................................................. 41
2.8.4 Basis for measurement ........................................................................................... 42
2.8.5 Current use of the definition ................................................................................... 42
2.9 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 44
2.10 Summary .................................................................................................................. 44
Chapter Three – Wellbeing Interventions ............................................................................ 46
3.1 Can wellbeing be enhanced? ...................................................................................... 46
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3.2 Are interventions an effective way to enhance wellbeing? ........................................ 49
3.3 What makes an Intervention Successful? ................................................................... 51
3.4 Can wellbeing interventions be used in Education? ................................................... 57
3.5 Is there a need for an Intervention for FE Students in Wales? ................................... 61
3.6 Four key influences on the content of the intervention ............................................. 66
3.6.1 Human Givens Theory – Griffin and Tyrell (2003) ................................................... 66
3.6.2 Positive Educational Practices (PEPs) Framework – Noble and McGrath (2008) ..... 68
3.6.3 Protective personal factors that contribute to resilience and wellbeing - Noble and
McGrath, 2012 ................................................................................................................. 70
3.6.4 Abraham and Michie’s Taxonomy of Behaviour Change techniques (2008) ........... 72
3.7 Conclusions ................................................................................................................ 74
3.8 Summary .................................................................................................................... 74
Is it possible to enhance wellbeing? ................................................................................. 74
What makes an intervention successful? ......................................................................... 75
Do interventions work in educational settings? ............................................................... 75
Is there a need for a wellbeing intervention for FE students in Wales? ............................ 76
What needs to be included in a successful wellbeing intervention? ................................. 76
Chapter Four – Focus Group Research ................................................................................. 78
4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 78
4.1.1Subjective Wellbeing ................................................................................................ 78
4.1.2 Developing a wellbeing measure ............................................................................ 79
4.1.3 Why use focus groups? ........................................................................................... 80
4.2 Materials and Sample ................................................................................................. 81
4.3 Ethics .............................................................................................................................. 81
4.4 Procedure ....................................................................................................................... 82
4.5 Results ........................................................................................................................ 85
4.5.1 Future employment/higher education .................................................................... 86
4.5.2 Exams/college assignments ..................................................................................... 88
4.5.3 Friends/social relationships ..................................................................................... 89
4.5.4 Other issues relating to college ............................................................................... 90
4.5.5 Confidence .............................................................................................................. 91
4.5.6 Family and Relatives ................................................................................................ 92
4.5.7 Healthy lifestyle ....................................................................................................... 93
4.5.8 Finance .................................................................................................................... 94
4.5.9 Personal safety ........................................................................................................ 96
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