Beck Hopelessness Scale
Beck Hopelessness Scale
General Information
The Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) was developed by Aaron T. Beck and Robert A. Steer. First published in 1988 and revised in 1993, the BHS is a 20 item scale measuring pessimism and optimism. The instrument is designed to be self-administered, or verbally administered if necessary, to individuals between the ages of 17 and 80 years of age and takes approximately five to ten minutes for completion. Individual’s true/false answers provide evidence to their feelings about the future, loss of motivation and expectations. The BHS consists of 20 statements requiring a true or false response. Each response is scored for indications of pessimism or denial of optimism. The BHS can be purchased from Pearson for an average of $0.88 per form, $75 for the BHS manual and $13 for the scoring sheet. Pearson’s website states that there is a positive correlation between BHS scores and measures of depression, suicidal intent, and ideation. Dowd’s review of the BHS in the Mental Measurements Yearbook with Tests in Print indicate that the BHS has high internal consistency reliability, normed against seven select groups, with coefficients ranging between .82 and .93. Test-retest reliability was not as strong, with the mean =.68, indicating the hopelessness was variable and not a personality trait, thus more treatable in terms of working with the client for resolution. Additionally, Beck, Weissman, Lester, and Trexler (1974) noted that initial research on the BHS showed a high internal consistency of .93 among 294 inpatient persons with recent suicide attempts. These patients were fairly diverse with only 57% being female and of those 44% were Caucasian with 61% of the men being Caucasian. In terms of face validity, the BHS looks like it is measuring for hope/hopelessness with questions such as: I look forward to the future with hope and enthusiasm; I cannot imagine what my life would be like in ten years; I expect to succeed in
General Information
The Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) was developed by Aaron T. Beck and Robert A. Steer. First published in 1988 and revised in 1993, the BHS is a 20 item scale measuring pessimism and optimism. The instrument is designed to be self-administered, or verbally administered if necessary, to individuals between the ages of 17 and 80 years of age and takes approximately five to ten minutes for completion. Individual’s true/false answers provide evidence to their feelings about the future, loss of motivation and expectations. The BHS consists of 20 statements requiring a true or false response. Each response is scored for indications of pessimism or denial of optimism. The BHS can be purchased from Pearson for an average of $0.88 per form, $75 for the BHS manual and $13 for the scoring sheet. Pearson’s website states that there is a positive correlation between BHS scores and measures of depression, suicidal intent, and ideation. Dowd’s review of the BHS in the Mental Measurements Yearbook with Tests in Print indicate that the BHS has high internal consistency reliability, normed against seven select groups, with coefficients ranging between .82 and .93. Test-retest reliability was not as strong, with the mean =.68, indicating the hopelessness was variable and not a personality trait, thus more treatable in terms of working with the client for resolution. Additionally, Beck, Weissman, Lester, and Trexler (1974) noted that initial research on the BHS showed a high internal consistency of .93 among 294 inpatient persons with recent suicide attempts. These patients were fairly diverse with only 57% being female and of those 44% were Caucasian with 61% of the men being Caucasian. In terms of face validity, the BHS looks like it is measuring for hope/hopelessness with questions such as: I look forward to the future with hope and enthusiasm; I cannot imagine what my life would be like in ten years; I expect to succeed in