Abstract
A multinational study to understand well-being from children’s perspectives in the Children’s Worlds International Survey of Children’s Well-being (ISCWeB) recently undertook qualitative analytical research to explore children’s conceptualization of well-being in Children’s Understanding of Well-being (CUWB). This has challenged researchers to utilize methods that are meaningful and engaging, child-centred and balance children’s rights to participation and protection, and are practical and time-expedient. The paper describes the findings from a qualitative investigation of a task-oriented research tool, the Vidaview Life Story Board (LSB), used to explore school-age children’s understanding of well-being. Twenty-one children between 8 and 12 years of age from the Canadian pilot of the CUWB were interviewed using the LSB. The children and the interviewer were asked to assess their experience with the LSB. Results suggested that children found the LSB to be engaging and helpful to facilitate their articulation of subjective well-being. The main themes that emerged were: autonomy and inclusiveness; validation of children’s experiences and agency; and child-centred approach. The findings suggest that the LSB seems to be a promising participatory, child-centred, rights-based qualitative research tool.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Backett, K., & Alexander, H. (1991). Talking to young children about health: methods and findings. Health Education Journal, 50(1), 134–137.
Ben-Arieh, A. (2005). Where are the children? Children’s role in measuring and monitoring their well-being. Social Indicators Research, 74(1), 573–596.
Blumer, B. (1969). Symbolic interactionism: Perspective and method. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(1), 77–101.
Breslau, N., Wilcox, H. C., Storr, C. L., Lucia, V. C., & Anthony, J. C. (2004). Trauma exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder: a study of youths in urban America. Journal of Urban Health, 81(4), 530–544.
Brockevelt, B. L., Cerny, S. L., Newland, L. A., & Lawler, M. J. (2016) Children’s subjective well-being: Transformative relationship between child, environment, and activities. In CUWB Reader: A collection of presentations and abstracts from the members of the CUWB Study for the CUWB Research Meeting in Berlin. Technische Universität Berlin.
Chase, R. (2000). The Butterfly Peace Garden, Batticaloa, Sri Lanka. Final Report of a Program Development and Research Project (1998-2000). Life Story Board. http://vidaview.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/BFG-2000-book.pdf. Accessed 19 Nov 2016.
Chase, R., Mignone, J., & Diffey, L. (2010). Life story board: A tool in the prevention of domestic violence. Pimitisiwin: A Journal of Aboriginal and Indigenous Community Health, 8(2), 145–154.
Chase, R., Medina, M. F., & Mignone, J. (2012). The life story board: A feasibility study of a visual interview tool for school counsellors. Canadian Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy, 46(3), 183–200.
Clark, A., & Moss, P. (2001). Listening to young children. The mosaic approach. London: National Children's Bureau Enterprises Ltd..
Crivello, C., Camfield, L., & Woodhead, M. (2009). How can children tell us about their wellbeing? Exploring the potential of participatory research approaches within young lives. Social Indicators Research, 90(1), 51–72.
Curtin, C. (2001). Eliciting children’s voices in qualitative research. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 55(3), 295–302.
Dinisman, T., & Ben-Arieh, A. (2016). The characteristics of subjective well-being. Social Indicators Research, 126(2), 555–569.
Dinisman, T., & Rees, G. (2014). Findings from the first wave of data collection. The International Survey of Children’s Well-Being (ISCWeB). http://www.isciweb.org/_Uploads/dbsAttachedFiles/FirstWaveReport_FINAL(2).pdf. Accessed 20 Nov 2016.
Dinisman, T., Fernandes, L., & Main, G. (2015). Findings from the first wave of the ISCWeB project: International perspectives on child subjective well-being. Child Indicators Research, 8(1), 1–4.
Due, C., Riggs, D. W., & Augoustinos, M. (2014). Research with children of migrant and refugee backgrounds: a review of child-centered research methods. Child Indicators Research, 7(1), 209–227.
Einarsdóttir, J. (2007). Research with children: Methodological and ethical challenges. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 15(2), 197–211.
Fattore, T., Mason, J., & Watson, E. (2007). Children’s Conceptualisation(s) of Their Well-Being. Social Indicators Research, 80(1), 5–29. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/27734524.
Frankel, S. (2007). Researching children’s morality: developing research methods that allow children’s involvement in discourses relevant to their everyday lives. Childhoods Today, 1(1), 1–25.
Harpham, T., Huong, T. N., Long, T. T., & Tuan, T. (2005). Participatory child poverty assessment in rural Vietnam. Children & Society, 19(1), 27–41.
Hicks, S., Newton, J., Haynes, J., & Evans, J. (2011). Measuring children’s and young People’s well-being. Office for National Statistics and BRASS. https://www.oecd.org/els/soc/48959746.pdf. Accessed 25 Jan 2016.
Hunner-Kreisel, C. Fegter, S. & Fattore, T. (2015). Research proposal: Multinational qualitative study of Children’s well-being. Multi-National Qualitative Study of Children’s well-being. Stages 1 and 2.
Knowing Children. (2010). The right to be properly researched: How to do rights-based, scientific research with children. Bangkok: Black on White Publications.
Medina-Muñoz, M. F., Chase, R., Roger, K., Loeppky, C., & Mignone, J. (2016). A novel visual tool to assist therapy clients' narrative and to disclose difficult life events: The life story board. Journal of Systemic Therapies, 35(1), 21–38.
Molina, G., Molina, F., Tanner, T. & Seballos, F. (2009). Child-friendly participatory research tools. Participatory Learning Action. http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/G02824.pdf. Accessed 20 Nov 2016.
Napastiuk, P. (2015). A training report to use lifestory board to address the met and unmet needs of Vancouver’s homeless/street involved youth. University of Victoria. https://www.uvic.ca/hsd/socialwork/assets/docs/student-research/PNapastiuk%20Project.pdf. Accessed 13 Jan 2017.
Newland, L. A. (2016) Measuring child well-being in a qualitative sample from the U.S. In CUWB Reader: A collection of presentations and abstracts from the members of the CUWB Study for the CUWB Research Meeting in Berlin. Technische Universität Berlin.
Punch, S. (2002). Research with children: The same or different from adults? Childhood. http://dreamscanbe.org/Reasearch%20Page%20Docs/Punch%20-%20research%20with%20children.pdf. Access 14 Nov 2016.
Robinson, C., & Kellett, M. (2004). Power. In S. Fraser, V. Lewis, S. Ding, M. Kellett, & C. Robinson (Eds.), Doing research with children and young people (pp. 81–96). London: Sage Publications.
Statham, J. & Chase, E. (2010). Childhood wellbeing: A brief overview. Childhood Wellbeing Research Centre. http://www.cwrc.ac.uk/documents/CWRC_Briefing_paper.pdf. Accessed 20 Jan 2016.
Stoecklin, D. (2013). Theories of action in the field of child participation: in search of explicit frameworks. Childhood, 20(4), 443–457.
Tekola, B., Griffin, C., & Camfield, L. (2009). Using qualitative methods with poor children in urban Ethiopia: opportunities & challenges. Social Indicators Research, 90(1), 73–87.
Willow, C. (2009). Children’s right to be heard and effective child protection. Save the children. http://www.savethechildren.org.fj/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Childrens-right-to-be-heard-and-effective-child-participation.pdf. Accessed.
Acknowledgements
On behalf of the Research Team, we would like to extend our gratitude to the child-care centres that supported the success of the Children’s World Study. As well, to the parents and children who helped us to gain insight into children’s lives. Without them, none of the information presented here would have been possible. This study was funded and supported by Red River College’s College Applied Research Development Fund (CARD).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Stewart-Tufescu, A., Huynh, E., Chase, R. et al. The Life Story Board: A Task-Oriented Research Tool to Explore Children’s Perspectives of Well-Being. Child Ind Res 12, 525–543 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-018-9533-8
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-018-9533-8