The association between depression, hopelessness and anxiety is relatively ignored in the literature of the Arab World, particularly using Beck Depression, hopelessness, and anxiety inventories.

To examine the relationship between depression, hopelessness and anxiety in a Kuwaiti adolescence.

The participants were 616 (308 boys & 308 girls) first year Kuwait University students. The genders were matched in age (18.15±0.36 & 18.18±0.38, t=0.94, p>.05), and BMI (24.12±3.27 & 23.50±4.85, t=0.54, p>.05). The Arabic versions of Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) and demographic surveys were administered to participants in the class. All participants read and signed a consent form before test administration. Independent Sample t Test, the exploratory factor analysis, correlation matrices, and stepwise regression model are used in this study.

Internal consistency of scores were satisfactory for the BDI-II, BHS & BAI inventories respectively (Cronbach's alpha = .83, .85, .90). The girls scored significantly higher than boys did on the BDI-II (t=10.25, p<.001), BHS (t=13.53, p<.001) & BAI (t=11.76, p<.001). A correlation of .59 between the BDI-II and BHS to .42 with BAI. Meanwhile the correlation of .33 between BHS & BAI. A principal-axis factor analysis with oblique rotation suggested one factor, accounting for 63.27% of the common variance. Multiple regression revealed that the main predictor of depression was hopelessness.

The current data provides strong evidence that among Kuwaiti depressed teenagers feel hopeless and anxious.