Adolescent flourishing: A systematic review

Flourishing has been an important topic of research prompting interest in psychometric assessment. However, the need for human emotions and functioning to be measured at a population level has resulted in different conceptual frameworks of flourishing. Eminent psychologists recognise the importance of both hedonic and eudaimonic approaches, which has contributed to an integrated well-being conceptualisation encompassed in the term "flourishing". The aim of the systematic review is to identify and synthesise the available literature on adolescent flourishing. Based on a systematic search of the literature, 11 publications were included with study samples spanning across adolescents aged 13 to 19 years old. The data were synthesised using textual narrative synthesis. The findings of the studies revealed that there is limited empirical work on adolescent flourishing. Further, no single definition or conceptualisation of flourishing emerged from the literature. Methodologically, the studies included were predominantly quantitative with one mixed-methods study. Finally, only one study used a scale specifically adapted to measure adolescent flourishing. Future empirical research using qualitative techniques to explore and broaden our understanding of adolescents flourishing is needed.