The purpose of this study was to examine the change of self-esteem and loneliness in college students who participated in class sessions on campus held from April to July and a 6 day camp session in September. Those sessions were held in 1996 and 1997. Subjects were 55 males and 24 females in the camping group, 94 males and 30 females in the control group.
The self-esteem was measured with Self-Awareness Scale by Kajita (1980). The camping group was measured in April, July (pre-camp), post-camp and after one month. The control group was measured in April, July and after one month. The loneliness was measured with UCLA-Loneliness Scale by Russell, Peplau & Cutrona (1980) translated to Japanese by Kudo & Nishikawa (1983). The both groups were measured at the same time as the Self-Awareness Scale. The following results were obtained:
1) The males in the camping group showed a significantly positive change in self-esteem. The control grop and females in the camping group did not show any change.
2) The males in the camping group showed a significantly positive change in loneliness. The control group and females in the camping group did not show any change.
3) The higher self-esteem score group showed a lower loneliness score and the higher loneliness score group showed a lower self-esteem score in males and females. The high- loneliness females in the camping group showed a significantly positive change in self-esteem.