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EMERGE 2007Investing in health and well-being: Holistic view of self-concepts in Australia’s young people.: 

EMERGE 2007 Investing in health and well-being: Holistic view of self-concepts in Australia’s young people. Nicki Brake School of Education, ACU National nicki.brake@acu.edu.au Ph: 9701 4230

background: 

background

background: 

background Thoughts lead to feelings Self-concepts are thoughts and feelings about the ‘self’ Cognitive, social and physical self-concepts Physical self-concepts are thoughts and feelings about the body (body image, physical activity and appearance)

background: 

background HEALTH is the cognitive, social, emotional, physical and spiritual development and wellbeing of the individual Physical self-concepts are central to the holistic view of health

Slide5: 

background “bodily self is an important part of the self-concept….feelings about the body are correlated with general feelings about the self” “one’s physical body is a potential source of self-esteem…not living up to societal standards regarding the body can have negative consequences for the self” (Goldenberg et al, 2000)

Relevance to EMERGE 2007: 

Relevance to EMERGE 2007

aims of the research: 

aims of the research To investigate the cognitive, social and PHYSICAL (body image, physical activity, appearance) self-concepts of children, adolescents and young adults To identify associations between experience with the body and self-concepts

Slide9: 

conceptual framework Age Gender Eating Disorder School Level of experience Cognitive PHYSICAL Social Experience Self-concepts Health Specialist

results How do self-concepts change with age & experience?: 

results How do self-concepts change with age & experience? There were clear differences between children, adolescents and young adults which can be linked to age, gender and experience. Children had high physical self-concepts but there was little difference between boys and girls. Adolescent boys had higher self-concepts than girls in body image and physical activity. Girls experiencing co-ed government schooling had lower self-concepts than girls in single sex catholic schooling.

results: 

results Girls hospitalised with eating disorders had lower physical self-concepts than other adolescents in relation to how they felt about themselves, however had high self-concepts in the usefulness of body image, physical activity and appearance. Young adults’ physical self-concepts differed with experience but less so with age or gender. Young adults (PDHPE) had much higher physical self-concepts than young adults (non-PDHPE). In summary, there seems to be a steady decline in physical self-concepts with age, particularly for girls, from childhood to adolescence, with the exception of young adults (PDHPE).

some other results…….: 

some other results……. The results of the APARQ indicated that adolescents who participated in a higher level of physical activity had significantly higher self-concepts than adolescents who participated in little or no physical activity. Self-concepts were associated with BMI, with adolescents in the healthy weight range yielding the highest scores. Girls in public co-ed school had slightly lower self-concepts than catholic school girls with the exception of body image Adolescent boys had higher scores in both the DASS and ASA

results – DASS / ASA: 

results – DASS / ASA

implications: 

implications The outcomes of this research suggest physical self-concepts do vary with experience of the body: through variations in size and shape; through increasing experience in thinking about the body relative to age; through the difference in gender experience of the body for boys and girls; and through the experience of educational contexts for adolescents and young adults.

recommendations: 

recommendations Teach attitude awareness and how to ‘choose’ a positive attitude Educate children, adolescents and young adults about intrinsic fulfilment vs. extrinsic fulfilment Holistic health leading to positive intrinsic qualities will impact human capital development Policy and practice: work together to make a difference to holistic health Invest in, and value, our greatest resource - people

directions for future research: 

directions for future research Intervention in transition periods from childhood to adolescence and from adolescence to Conduct a longitudinal study with adolescents, tracking adolescent experience into young adulthood to find patterns related to experience. 3. Conduct an adolescent intervention program with a control group; a group receiving physical activity intervention; and a group receiving physical activity and positive thought intervention. Compare the self-concepts of young adults enrolled in tertiary degrees with young adults not enrolled in any education. Further investigation into the feelings of male adolescents.

closing thoughts…….: 

closing thoughts……. The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes. - William James All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think, we become. - Maharishi Mahesh Yogi