Optimism and Its Relationship to Depression, Coping, Anger, and Life Events in Rural Adolescents

Optimism is a stable personality trait that has important implications for behavior, yet little attention has been given to examining optimism in adolescents. This article describes levels of optimism in rural adolescents and the relationship of optimism with depression, coping, anger, and life events. The identification of optimism may be a vulnerability factor when screening adolescent mental health and, as such, has implications for the psychiatric nurse clinician.