Young people's wellbeing and autotelic practices: a narrative and go-along inquiry of youth activities.

促进年轻人良好的心理健康和福祉是从事年轻人工作的机构和组织的优先领域，以应对越来越多的年轻人报告精神健康问题，特别是抑郁和焦虑。YouGov(2016)最近的一项调查发现，24%的大学生(18-24岁)报告患有精神疾病，60%的人报告抑郁和/或焦虑扰乱了日常活动。该项目将开发一种以实践为基础的自我照顾和健康方法。也就是说，它将确定年轻人可能从事的活动类型，以照顾他们的心理健康。这种幸福的实践方法广泛地借鉴了积极心理学的原理，特别是齐克森特米哈伊(1990)的“心流”理论。根据Csiks zentmihalyi的说法，当个人“在自愿努力完成一些困难和有价值的事情时，他们的身体或精神被伸展到极限时，他们最快乐”(1990，3)。为提高幸福感而不是实现既定目标而实施的有益做法称为自给自足做法。自动实践的例子包括体育、音乐、艺术或精神活动。这些观点在更多关于幸福的民粹主义描述中产生了影响，并主导了关于晚期现代性中时间压力的自助文学(例如参见克拉布，2014)。然而，Csikszentmihalyi对流动的描述也在学术账户中引起了共鸣，并有相当大的空间参照年轻人的福祉来发展他的想法(例如参见浅川，2010)。至关重要的是，对积极心理学的批评之一是，它强调个人的作用，而不考虑环境的相关性。对于年轻人来说，运动、学习乐器或艺术技能等可能被定义为自发性的活动越来越多地被用作区别对待的标志，因此越来越多地参与其中，以求从人群中脱颖而出(Holdsworth，2015)。这项研究的一个关键问题是，年轻人是否有可能从非目的论的角度参与活动。年轻人有没有可能为了自己的幸福而不是自我推销的需要去做事情？这项为这个博士所做的研究将考虑年轻人参与自动实践的情况。为了这项研究的目的，青年将被定义为18至25岁。我会将接受高等教育的年轻人的经历与其他形式的年轻人或接受培训或就业的年轻人进行比较。需要解决的具体研究问题是：1.自动练习对年轻人采取什么形式，年轻人是否根据活动类型表达不同的经历，例如将体力活动与手艺成就进行比较？2.年轻人、他们的家人和从业者如何重视自动练习？3.如何获得自动练习？参与这些活动的障碍是什么？障碍可能与时间、成本和机会有关。可以为年轻人支持哪些形式的自选做法？机构在促进这些做法方面的作用是什么？

Promoting young people's good mental health and wellbeing is a priority area for institutions and organisations working with young people in response to concerns that more young people are reporting mental health issues, particularly depression and anxiety. A recent YouGov (2016) survey found that 24% of university students (18-24 years old) reported a mental illness and 60% reported that feelings of depression and/or anxiety disrupted everyday activities.This project will develop a practice-based approach to self-care and wellbeing. That is, it will identify the kinds of activities that young people may engage in to take care for their mental health. This practice approach to wellbeing draws extensively on the principles of positive psychology, particularly Csikszentmihalyi's (1990) theorisation of 'flow'. According to Csikszentmihalyi individuals are happiest when their 'body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile' (1990, 3). Beneficial practices that are entered into to enhance wellbeing rather than achieve a defined goal are termed autotelic practices. Examples of autotelic practices include, sport, musical, artistic or spiritual activities. These ideas have been influential in more populist accounts of wellbeing and dominate self-help literature on the pressures of time in late modernity (see for example Crabbe, 2014). Yet Csikszentmihalyi's account of flow also has resonance in academic accounts and there is considerable scope to develop his ideas with reference to young people's wellbeing (see for example Asakawa, 2010). Crucially, one of the criticisms of positive psychology is that it emphasis the role of the individual and does not consider the relevance of context. For young people the kinds of activities that might be defined as autotelic, such as sports, learning a musical instrument or artistic skill are increasingly used as a badge of distinction and are therefore increasingly engaged in for the teleological rationale of standing out from the crowd (Holdsworth, 2015). One of the key questions for this research is whether it is possible for young people to engage in activities from a non-teleological perspective. Is it possible for young people to do things for their own wellbeing rather than the requirement for self-promotion?The research carried out for this PhD will consider young people's engagement in autotelic practices. For the purposes of this research youth will be defined as aged 18 to 25. I will compare the experiences of young people engaged in higher education and those in other forms or training or employment. The specific research questions to be addressed are:1. What form do autotelic practices take for young people and do young people articulate different experiences according to the type of activity, comparing for example physical activity with craft accomplishments?2. How are autotelic practices valued by young people, their families and practitioners?3. How are autotelic activities accessed and what are the barriers to engaging in these? Barriers could be associated with time, cost and opportunity.4. What forms of autotelic practices could be supported for young people and what is the role of institution in facilitating these practices?