Flourishing in Life: An Empirical Test of the Dual Continua Model of Mental Health and Mental Illness among Canadian University Students

Abstract

In the conventional paradigm, mental health and illness exist on a single continuum where the emphasis is on the presence or absence of pathological outcomes. By contrast, a new theoretical framework recognizes and promotes a dual continua model where mental health is no longer the absence of mental illness. This new paradigm argues that mental health should be regarded as a ‘syndrome of symptoms’ which include the presence of positive feelings (emotional well-being) as well as positive psychosocial functioning (psychological and social well-being). Using a sample of over 1200 students from a Canadian university, the goal of the current research is to test empirically the multiple dimensions of well-being in order to address three research questions: (1) What percentages of students are flourishing, moderately healthy and languishing? (2) What is the relationship between mental health and mental illness when conceptualized on separate continua? (3) What are the significant predictors of mental health and well-being? Results support a dual continua model; while there is overlap between mental health and illness, a sizable group of respondents are ‘mentally ill’ and ‘mentally healthy’ or ‘not mentally ill’ and ‘not mentally healthy’. Students who scored higher on positive mental health tended to be female, higher in socio-economic status, more spiritual/religious, more likely to forgive, with little or no experience of childhood trauma and lower rates of depression and anxiety. These findings have implications for the conception of positive mental health beyond the ‘absence of disease.’

Keywords:

• MENTAL HEALTH CONTINUUM
• POSITIVE MENTAL HEALTH
• MENTAL HEALTH PROMOTION
• YOUTH
• CANADA