Comparison of Emotional Regulation and Self-awareness between Normal and Delinquent Adolescents

Emotional regulation is the process of changing individuals emotions to adapt and adjust to their environment. One of the factors that affects “emotional regulation” is “self-awareness”. “Self-awareness” is the accurate identification of the situation by knowing and controlling of your feelings, thoughts, motivations and behaviors. Some studies shows the weakness of “emotion regulation” and “self-awareness” skills of delinquent adolescents. Regarding the fact that lack of skills in these two variables may be associated with mental disorders, such as conduct disorder, and delinquency, the aim of this study was the comparison of “emotion regulation” and “self- awareness” between normal adolescents and delinquent adolescents of the correctional center in the city of Isfahan. To do this, in a causal-comparative study, 130 delinquent adolescents and 130 normal adolescents were selected using available sampling research method and these two variables were evaluated. The results of multivariate analysis of variance showed the significant lower scores of “cognitive assessment”, also “personal and general self-awareness” of delinquent adolescents compared with normal adolescents, However higher scores in terms of “expression inhibition. As a result findings confirmed the differences of “emotional regulation” and “self-awareness” between normal and delinquent adolescents.