Justė Lukoševičiūtė¹, Kastytis Šmigelskas^1,2

 ¹ Health Research Institute, Faculty of Public Health, Medical Academy, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania

² Department of Health Psychology, Faculty of Public Health, Medical Academy, Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania

Abstract

Problem and aim. There are quite many studies addressing the health of adults and elderly in detail, however, an integrated assessment of health among young people is still missing. Most frequently, the studies choose clinical samples or certain components of health, therefore the aim of this research was to overview the studies on adolescent health and wellbeing and establish the main factors groups.

Study object and methods. Object of the study – peer-reviewed research articles available in scientific databases. The search was conducted using „PubMed“, „EBSCOhost“, and „Google Scholar“ systems. The keywords for search were based on the aim of this research without particular restrictions for publications period.

Results. The literature review revealed that adolescent self-reported health and wellbeing is related to perceptions of physical health, psychosocial factors, lifestyle, and risk behaviors.

Overview. Adolescent health and wellbeing depends on a variety of factors – from personal, lifestyle-related, behavioral factors, to home and school environment. Therefore, in order to foster and improve adolescent health and wellbeing it is essential to approach different factors, not just concentrating on some specific factors. It is important to improve the awareness of adolescents and their environment, consolidate different groups of specialists and promote their collaboration with adolescents and their families.

Keywords: health, wellbeing, psychological wellbeing, lifestyle, risk behaviur, adolescent.