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The Association Between Humor and Depression in Adolescent Psychiatric Inpatients and High School Students

James C. Overholser

Kim L. Lehnert

Case Western Reserve University

Humor may be an important coping skillfor dealing with emotional difficulties during adolescence. The relations between humor and symptoms of depression in high school students and in depressed adolescent psychiatric inpatients were examined in the present study. Assessment of humor included measures of humor appreciation, humor creativity, and humor coping. Professional comedians rated humor creativity. Depression was assessed with self-report measures of depressed mood, self-esteem, and hopelessness. Results indicated that humor can be measured reliably and that humor and depression are related. Specifically, using humor to cope with emotional difficulties was related to depression more than was the ability to appreciate or create humorous material. Although the adolescent inpatients reported more emotional distress than did the high school participants, the two groups did not differ on the humor measures. Further research examining the role of humor in coping with depression among adolescents is indicated.

Journal of Adolescent Research, Vol. 13, No. 1, 32-48 (1998)
DOI: 10.1177/0743554898131003


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