Objectives: The aim of this survey was to define the hopelessness levels in the students of an occupational education center and the definition of the factors affecting them. Materials and methods: The survey is a descriptive type and was made among 630 students who have been taking an apprenticeship, foremanship and proficiency education at an Occupational Education Centre. The whole universe was included in the survey. A questionnaire of a question set, which is made up of health, social and

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... emographic variables and the factors thought to be related with hopelessness and also of Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) was carried out among 600 students. Results: Totally 88.7% of the students are male, 11.3% are female and their mean age was 20.04 ± 6.0 years. Of all, 83.7% were taking foremanship education; 9.5% apprenticeship education and 6.8% were taking a proficiency education. The average point of BHS was found as 7.31 ± 3.78 (min: 1, max: 19). The rate of the students whose BHS point is ≥10 is 26.2%. The level of hopelessness was found higher among the men who worked more than five days a week, changed jobs, works more than eight hours, don't like their jobs, had chronic illnesses and smoking and taking alcohol (p<0.05). Also, perception of their health situation goes from positive to negative parallel to increasing hopelessness (p<0.05). Conclusion: Hopelessness mean point of the students was low. But, approximately one per four students' BHS point is ≥10. Psychological help or guiding activities can be organized, after evaluating the factors affecting their hopelessness. ÖZET Amaç: Bu araştırmada mesleki eğitim merkezi öğrencilerinde umutsuzluk düzeyinin belirlenmesi ve etkileyen faktörlerin tanımlanması amaçlanmıştır.