IntroductionAdolescents living in socioeconomically vulnerable environments face multiple interrelated academic, emotional, relational, and economic challenges that shape their well-being and development. Research has largely prioritised risk-based and adult-centred perspectives, often overlooking adolescents’ capacities and strengths. This study explored how adolescents in a Peruvian public school perceive daily challenges, mobilise General Resistance Resources (GRRs), and exercise agency from a salutogenic perspective.MethodsA qualitative study was conducted in a public secondary school in Acobamba, Peru. Twenty-eight adolescents (21 females and 7 males) and 6 teachers participated. Data were collected through month-long personal diaries, adolescent focus groups, and semi-structured interviews with teachers. A reflective thematic analysis was applied with equal rigour to adolescent and teacher data, enabling comparative analysis. Coding was inductive and supported by ATLAS.ti, integrating gender and salutogenesis as analytical lenses.ResultsAdolescents identified academic, relational, economic, family, and everyday challenges. They mobilised diverse GRRs (personal, social, spiritual, digital, and institutional) for emotional regulation, problem-solving, and meaning-making. Agency emerged as a dynamic context-dependent capacity shaped by the perceived impact of challenges and available resources, consistent with bounded agency. Gender differences were observed in the recognition of challenges, resources, and agency. Teachers recognised some resources and emerging agency in adolescents however emphasised risk, dependency, and limited autonomy, contrasting with adolescents’ more active accounts.ConclusionAdolescent well-being reflects the interaction between structural conditions, relational contexts, and resource mobilisation. Resources must be recognised, activated, and socially validated within a constrained agency. Bridging the gap between adolescent and adult perspectives is essential. Health promotion should strengthen adolescent capacities, address structural barriers, and incorporate gender and contextual perspectives.
Guevara-Cabello et al. (Wed,) studied this question.