Purpose Discovery and Age as Predictors of Positive Affect among Psychotic Teenagers in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Abstract

The focus of this paper was to examine how the discovery of one's life purpose and age and may predict positive affect outcomes among psychotic teenagers in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Two hundred and seventy-nine teenagers aged between 13 to 18 years (M = 15.40; SD =1.11) were purposively sampled using the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire developed by Eysenck and Eysenck (1975). The participants comprised of 194 males and 85 females. They were administered with the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MILQ) by Steger, Frazier, Oishi, and Kaler, (2006) and the International Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule - Short Form by Thompson (2007). The study employed the cross-sectional survey for data collection while the hierarchical multiple regression analyses on SPSS Version 20 was used to analyse data collected. Findings showed that age did not significantly predict positive affect scores among psychotic adolescents in Port Harcourt (β = .037, p>.05, t = .535). However, purpose discovery significantly predict positive affect scores among psychotic adolescents in Port Harcourt (β = .822, p<.05, t = 23.92).The study recommends that since psychotic teenagers have an increased positive affect when they have a presence of meaning in life, they should be encouraged to become engaged and focused with positive goals that they enjoy doing.