Supervisors info:
Φρόσω Μόττη- Στεφανίδη, Καθηγήτρια, ΕΚΠΑ
Βασίλης Παυλόπουλος, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής, ΕΚΠΑ
Σπύρος Τάνταρος,Καθηγητής,ΕΚΠΑ
Summary:
The goal of the present study was to investigate the relation between the Greek adolescents’ personality and their mental health, cross-sectionally and longitudinally. For studying personality we used the theory of Big Five personality model (Five factor model; FFM, Costa, & McCrae, 1992a) whereas for the mental health dimensions, we studied self-esteem and depressive symtomatology. The main research question was whether the personality dimensions function as predictive factors for the adolescent’s mental health. The sample consisted of 412 Greek adolescent students, both male and female, from 14 High Schools of Attica, Greece. The survey was done in two stages occurring two years apart. In the first phase the student participants were at the first grade of high school while at the second phase, the same students were at the third grade. Personality traits were assessed with the FFFK Asendorpf και Van Aken (2003). For the measurement of mental health, we used the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES, Rosenberg, 1965) and the Depression Scale (DEPS, Salokangas, Poutanen, & Stengârd 1995). Results showed that the personality’s dimentions (Extraversion, Emotional Stability, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness and Openess to Experience) are potential predictors for the mental health of adolescents. In addition, Emotional Stability was the strongest predictor, longitudinally, for both self-esteem and depressive symtomatology. Lastly, important sex differences on depressive symptomatology emerged, despite the statistically significant predictive validity of the personality dimentions.
Keywords:
Big Five traits, depression, self-esteem, mental health, adolescence, positive adaptation
