The Relationship of Hardiness and Self-attitude in Adolescents with Acne

Acne (acne vulgaris) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease resulting from the overproduction of sebum and blockage hyperplastic sebaceous glands with subsequent inflammation. The disease most commonly occurs in puberty and affects more than half of the adolescent population. The aim of this investigation was to study the specificity of such psychological characteristics such as hardiness and self-attitude of adolescents suffering from acne moderate and severe stages. The research subjects were 107 adolescents with acne (57 males and 50 females) undergoing treatment at the dermatological Department SPbSPMU (St. Petersburg State Pediatric Medical University), the comparison group included 100 apparently healthy adolescents (50 male, 50 female). The study used the Test of hardiness S. Maddi adaptation D.A. Leontiev and E.I. Rasskazova and research technique of self-attitude by S.R. Pantileev and V.V. Stolin. We found that self-doubt, dissatisfaction with oneself as a personality, expectation of negative attitude from others are detected in adolescents with acne and cosmetic defect in this study. Low level of the hardiness is associated with the inability to resist circumstances, to see themselves as the source of activity and with negative emotional position to themselves. On the other hand, adolescents with acne with a high level of indicators of hardiness are characterized by the lack of internal tensions, self-confidence, willingness to be proactive and positive expectations from the surrounding reality, including the relationship to them of other people.