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ARTICLE

“I’m Now Braver than Ever.” The Perceived Impacts of the Finnish “Gutsy Go” Program for Enhancing Adolescents’ Psychosocial Well-Being: A Qualitative Study

Hanna Ahrnberg1,*, Kaija Appelqvist-Schmidlechner2, Pekka Mustonen1, Sari Fröjd3, Katja Aktan-Collan1
1 The Finnish Medical Society Duodecim, Kaivokatu 8, Helsinki, Finland
2 Mental Health Unit, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Mannerheimintie 166, Helsinki, Finland
3 Unit of Health Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, Tampere University, Arvo Ylpön katu 34, Tampere, Finland
* Corresponding Author: Hanna Ahrnberg. Email: email
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Child and Adolescent Mental Health: Risk and Protective Factors, Assessment, Interventions and Lifespan Outcomes)

International Journal of Mental Health Promotion https://doi.org/10.32604/ijmhp.2026.077244

Received 05 December 2025; Accepted 26 February 2026; Published online 10 April 2026

Abstract

Objectives: Positive Youth Development is an evidence-based, holistic approach that underlines adolescents’ strengths, competence, and interests instead of deficits, thus promoting psychosocial well-being in adolescents. This study aims to explore adolescents’ perceived impacts of the Finnish service-learning program “Gutsy Go”, which is based on a Positive Youth Development approach. Methods: The program educates 8th-grade comprehensive school students to perform good deeds in their communities and enhances adolescents’ psychosocial well-being. Focus group interviews were conducted two to three weeks after the program week with 61 program participants. The data was analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results: Four broad themes of the perceived impacts of the program were derived from the data: emotional impacts, impacts on competence, impacts within the group, and lessons learned for future use. Conclusions: The perceived impacts of the Gutsy Go program in this study were mostly positive and related to adolescents’ psychosocial well-being. More studies are needed regarding the underlying mechanisms between participation in the program and the perceived impacts.

Keywords

Adolescence; psychosocial well-being; positive youth development; school-based program; service-learning

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