Effect of a purpose in life program on the wellness of Southern Thai adolescents

• Main Authors: Karnsunaphat Balthip (Author), Pimpanit Pasri (Author), Bunrome Suwanphahu (Author), Wilfred McSherry (Author), Charuwan Kritpracha (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: College of Public Health Sciences, Chulalongkorn University, 2022-02-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 0857-4421; 2586-940X; 10.1108/JHR-04-2020-0102
• Keywords: gratitude; purpose in life; spirituality; wellness; thai adolescents; Other systems of medicine; RZ201-999; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270
• Source: Journal of Health Research, Vol 36, Iss 2, Pp 265-274 (2022)

Purpose - The study aimed to examine the effect of a purpose in life (PIL) program on the wellness of Thai adolescents. Design/methodology/approach - Two schools located in municipalities in southern Thailand were selected by simple random sampling. Students from each school were randomly allocated to either an experimental group (n = 35) or a control group (n = 32). The experimental group received the PIL program for 16 weeks. The control group received the routine education program. Participants' wellness was measured using the Wellness Scale (WS). The WS was validated for content validity by five Thai experts and tested for reliability with 30 junior high school students, yielding the Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.84. The differences in the mean score of wellness across time were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA. Findings - The mean scores of wellness of the experimental group and the control group were statistically significantly different across time (p < 0.001). Post hoc tests in the experimental group showed a statistically significant difference in the mean scores of wellness between Week 1 and Week 16, Week 1 and Week 20 and Week 16 and Week 20 (p < 0.05). In the control group, the results showed a statistically significant difference in the mean scores of wellness between Week 1 and Week 20 and Week 16 and Week 20 (p < 0.05). Originality/value - The PIL program, originally developed within a Thai context and focused on the spiritual dimension, was effective in enhancing the wellness of Thai adolescents.