Subjective Well-Being in Intellectually Gifted Adolescents: A Phenomenological Study

Abstract

Gifted adolescents are one of the vulnerable groups of people that have not received much attention from nursing researchers. Psychologically, gifted adolescents are vulnerable to experience problems related to their characteristics, such as socio-emotional, psychological, and academic problems that may indicate a low level of subjective well-being. These special groups of adolescents have received little attention from nurses either in the management of nursing interventions or as research subjects. This study aimed to explore the essence of intellectually gifted adolescents in maintaining their subjective well-being. This study employed a qualitative method with a descriptive phenomenological research design. The population was the intellectually gifted adolescents who had participated in the national or international academic competitions and were aged 15 to 18 years old. The participants were ten adolescents recruited using a snowball sampling technique. Data were analyzed using Colaizzi's method. The results revealed four themes: (1) making achievements as a source of happiness, (2) achieving the dream for the future with the blessings of parents, (3) working hard to make achievements, and (4) surviving when experiencing various problems. The results indicated that the difficulties experienced by gifted adolescents were incomparable to the feelings of happiness they had felt. Gifted adolescents also reported life satisfaction in general. Nurses can play their roles by providing promotive and preventive interventions, particularly for the mental health of gifted adolescents. Keywords: Intellectual gift, life satisfaction, well-being, subjective well-being