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

促进年轻人的良好心理健康和福祉是与年轻人合作的机构和组织的一个优先领域，因为越来越多的年轻人报告心理健康问题，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）表示患有精神疾病，60%的人表示抑郁和/或焦虑的感觉扰乱了日常活动。该项目将开发一种基于实践的自我保健和健康方法。也就是说，它将确定年轻人可能参与的各种活动，以照顾他们的心理健康。这种实践方法广泛地借鉴了积极心理学的原则，特别是Csikszentmihalyi（1990）的“心流”理论。根据Csikszentmihalyi的说法，当他们的“身心伸展到极限，自愿努力完成一些困难而有价值的事情”时，个人是最幸福的。为了提高幸福感而不是实现既定目标的有益实践被称为自利实践。自私自利的实践包括体育、音乐、艺术或精神活动。这些观点在更民粹主义的幸福描述中产生了影响，并主导了关于现代性晚期时间压力的自助文学（例如，参见克拉布，2014年）。然而，Csikszentmihalyi对心流的描述也在学术研究中引起了共鸣，他的观点在年轻人的幸福感方面还有相当大的发展空间（例如Asakawa， 2010）。至关重要的是，积极心理学受到的批评之一是，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，可能被定义为自目的的各种活动，如运动、学习乐器或艺术技能，越来越多地被用作区分的标志，因此越来越多地从事于从人群中脱颖而出的目的论理由（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。年轻人是否有可能为了自己的幸福而不是为了自我推销而做事？为这个博士学位所做的研究将考虑年轻人在自动机实践中的参与。为了本研究的目的，青年将被定义为18至25岁。我将比较接受高等教育的年轻人和接受其他形式培训或就业的年轻人的经历。具体要解决的研究问题有：1。对于年轻人来说，自律性练习采取什么形式？年轻人是否根据活动类型表达不同的经历，例如比较体育活动和工艺成就？年轻人、他们的家庭和实践者是如何评价自私自利的做法的？如何进行自私自利的活动，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。哪些形式的自律性实践可以为年轻人提供支持，机构在促进这些实践方面的作用是什么？

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?