Depression, Anxiety and Stress of the Adolescent Destitute (Orphans)

Pages: 235-239
Michael P. Vallavanthra (Department of Research and Evaluation, Psychology, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu)

Depression, anxiety and stress of adolescent orphans living in orphanages is the main topic of the research work. In this context, the influence of variables such as depression, anxiety and stress on orphans is studied. The present paper shows the result of this study. A sample of 210 orphans is randomly selected from various orphanages in Thrissur district of Kerala. The Depression Anxiety Stress Scales 21 (DASS 21) a short version of Levobond and Levibond’s (1995) 42 item self-report measure of depression, anxiety and stress (DASS) is used to measure the variables. The sample is studied on three levels namely early (12 to 14 years-Group 1), middle (14 to 17 years-Group 2), and late (17 to 19 years-Group 3) adolescents based on adolescent phases. Results of ANOVA show that there is a significant difference in depression between the three groups, where, early and middle adolescents show significantly higher levels of depression compared to late adolescents. The three groups are also compared using ‘t’ test to find out gender differences in depression, anxiety and stress. It is found that females are high on anxiety compared to males in the middle adolescent group. In the late adolescent group, females are higher on depression, anxiety and stress, compared to males. It is also found that there exists a significant positive correlation between depression, anxiety and stress.