Feature and relationship of the male inmates self-control, automatic thoughts and coping style

Abstract

Objective To explore the features of male prisoners' self-control, automatic thought and coping style, and the relationship between them. Methods Randomly selected 725 male prisoners tested by Self-control Scale, the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire and Coping-style Inventory. Results (1) High-age male inmates self-control score was significantly higher than the low ages(F=12.063, P<0.01), high-education male inmates self-control score was significantly higher than the low-education ones(F=2.990, P=0.030). (2)The self-control was significantly correlated with all factors of coping style for male inmates(r=0.203-0.381, P<0.01). Low self-control corresponds to immature coping style, high self-control corresponds to mature coping style. (3) Automatic thought was significantly correlated with coping styles of male inmate factors(r=0.085-0.603, P<0.01). Negative automatic thoughts were more likely to use immature coping style. Conclusions Low self-control and immature coping style may be psychological factors influence crime, if necessary, give appropriate counseling of poor self-control and immature coping styles inmates. Key words: Male prisoners; Self-control; Automatic thoughts; Coping style