Hopelessness and factors affecting hopelessness in high school students; [Lise öǧrencilerinde umutsuzluk ve umutsuzluk düzeyini etkileyen etkenler]

Özmen D.; Erbay Dündar P.; Çetinkaya A.C.; Taşkin O.; Özmen E.

Hopelessness and factors affecting hopelessness in high school students; [Lise öǧrencilerinde umutsuzluk ve umutsuzluk düzeyini etkileyen etkenler]

Date

2008

Authors

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the level of hopelessness and to examine the effects of socio-demographic features, depression, self-esteem on hopelessness in a high school population. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 1185 ninth-grade Turkish adolescents aged between 14 and 19. Hopelessness, sef esteem and depression levels were measured with Beck Hopelessness Scale, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and Children's Depression Inventory respectively. Student's t-test and analysis of variance were used to examine relationships among the variables. Results: Being male, lower income, lower education levels in parents, perception of family status as low, depression, lower self esteem, perception of quality of life as low were positively correlated with the mean score of Beck Hopelessness Scale. On the other hand only 16.6% of the students responded as 'yes' to item 'my future seems dark to me' and 12.8% of the students responded as 'no' to item 'I look forward to the future with hope and enthusiasm.' Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that school-based adolescents in urban part of Turkey have hope for the future. But the prevalence of hopelessness was not rare in school-based adolescents and it was more common in the children of families with low socio-economical level. Hopelessness may be one of the important indicators of low subjective well-being that should be recognized by the health care personnel.