Life Skills of Adolescent Students from Economically Disadvantaged Families in Thailand: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

This qualitative research aimed to examine life skills regarding coping with the emotions and self-management skills of adolescent students from economically disadvantaged families. Participants were 13 adolescent students (seven males, six females) living in economically disadvantaged families. All had a GPA of at least the average level. Participants were interviewed for 40-60 minutes. After each interview, verbatim transcriptions from the recordings were made. The data analyses were done concurrently with the data collections. Five main themes were identified from the interview transcriptions as following: 1) Self-knowledge and Self-understanding, 2) Recognizing Self-worth, 3) Sense of Life Purpose, 4) Coping with Emotion, and 5) Stress Management. Most students identified only with their negative aspects of self, with only a few of them mentioning the positive aspects of oneself. The students recognized their sense of self-worth or self-esteem that came from either sports activities or competitive events and reported helping others. Most students had no life purpose or life. In addition, the students mentioned their coping strategies to overcome their negative emotions and stresses, such as talking with friends and family members, letting go, and playing sports. Some identified quite limited stress-management strategies, such as punching and separating. This identified the experiences and life skills of adolescent students from families in poverty. This knowledge may be used as a conceptual framework for the development of the appropriate instrument that has limited in Thailand for evaluating life skills for this group of students and life skills programs for students from low-income families.