Hopelessness, Loneliness, Self-Esteem, and Personality in Russian Male Delinquent Adolescents versus Controls
Abstract
The aim of the present study was to test for possible interrelations between hopelessness, loneliness, self-esteem, and personality in samples of delinquent adolescents ( n = 187) and controls ( n = 103) from the Arkhangelsk region in Russia. The subjects were assessed by means of the UCLA Loneliness Scale, Beck’s Hopelessness Scale, Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale, and Cloninger’s Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). The delinquents differed from the controls in most of the variables under investigation. The loneliness and hopelessness scales were highly interrelated. Furthermore, they correlated with the temperament dimension of harm avoidance and inversely correlated with the character dimension of self-directedness. Self-esteem appeared to be exclusively related with self-directedness. Our results reflect relationships between certain personality traits and psychological symptoms and indicate the potential of the TCI as a clinical assessment tool.