Personality and Psychosocial Functioning in Institutionalized Adolescents: A Study of Personality and Irrational Beliefs in Orphan and Non-Orphan Adolescents

The present study examined the differences in irrational beliefs and personality traits between institutionalized adolescents and a comparison group of non-institutionalized adolescents. A total of 400 adolescents, comprising 200 institutionalized adolescents (from care homes) and 200 non-institutionalized adolescents (from schools), completed standardized measures of irrational beliefs and Eysenck's Personality Inventory. It was hypothesized that institutionalized adolescents would show higher irrational beliefs, higher psychoticism, higher neuroticism, and lower extraversion compared to their non-institutionalized counterparts. Results from a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed no significant group differences in irrational beliefs, extraversion, or neuroticism. However, a significant difference was detected in psychoticism, with institutionalized adolescents scoring higher than non-institutionalized adolescents. While this finding was significant at a conventional alpha level of p < .05, it did not meet the more stringent pre-established significance threshold of p < .01. These findings suggest that institutional care may be associated with higher psychoticism traits, but does not influence personality factors or belief systems.