Personality as a Correlate of Mental Health among Metropolitan Adolescents of India

Abstract

Besides the way we think, feel and behave, our unique individuality has a significant contribution on our mental health. Some individuals are more prone to mental illness and psychopathology because of their characteristics and personality traits, whereas some others experience higher level of mental health because of their distinct personality dispositions. The present study was planned and executed with the aim to investigate the effect of adolescent's personality on their mental health. The sample comprised of 300 students studying in ninth and tenth standard in public schools of Delhi. In order to assess the personality of the selected sample of adolescents, Personality Assessment Questionnaire (PAQ, Rohner, 1983 cited from Roher, 2005)was administered which consists of seven dimensions, i.e., hostility, dependence, negative self-esteem, negative self-adequacy, emotional unresponsiveness, emotional instability and negative worldview. Mental Healthy Inventory (MHI-38) by Davies, Sherbourne, Peterson and Ware (1998) was administered for evaluating the two broad domains of mental health i.e., psychological distress and psychological well-being. Correlation analysis and step wise regression analysis were carried out in order to study the effect of personality on psychological distress and psychological well-being among adolescents. The results revealed that:i) Hostility, negative self-esteem, negative selfadequacy, emotional unresponsiveness and negative worldview have significant positive correlation with psychological distress. Hostility and negative self-esteem have emerged as significant predictor variable for psychological distress.ii)Another important finding is that hostility, negative self-esteem and negative worldview have a significant negative correlation with psychological well-being whereas, and dependence has a significant positive correlation with it. Hostility, negative self-esteem and dependence have emerged as significant predictor variables for psychological well-being.