Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS)

Original Citation - Beck AT, Weissman A, Lester D, Trexler L.The measurement of pessimism:
The Hopelessness Scale. J Consult Clin Psychol. 1974 Dec;42(6):861-5. V
iew in PubMed

Price & Availability - Original items published in original citation.  Available for purchase
through instrument website .

Brief Description of Instrument - Assesses three aspects of hopelessness:  feelings about

the future, loss of motivation and expectations.

Useful for predicting eventual suicide.

Administration Time - 5-10 minutes.

Scale Format - True/false, 20 items.

Administration Technique - Self-administered questionnaire or may be administered via

interview.

Scoring and Interpretation - Use scoring key to assign a score of 0 or 1 to each item
response.   Sum item scores to calculate total score.

Factors and Norms - Three factors:  affective, motivational, and cognitive aspects of
hopelessness.

Internal Consistency - Coefficient alpha = 0.93.

1/2
Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS)

Construct Validity - Scale used in hypothesis testing relevant to hopelessness.   Please see
original citation for details.

Criterion-Related Validity - Hopelessness scale scores found to correlate with clinical ratings
of hopelessness, Stuart Future Test and pessimism item of the Beck Depression Inventory.

Responsive to Change Over Time - Change detected in psychiatric inpatients assessed

during hospitalization and again at discharge.

Content & Face Validity - Item development based on a similar scale, a test of attitudes about
the future as well as pessimistic statements made by psychiatric patients who were judged by
clinicians to appear hopeless.   Scale refined through pilot testing
and expert review.

Published APN Studies Using Instrument - Adams P. Insight: a mental health prevention
intervention.   Nurs Clin North Am. 2000
Jun;35(2):329-38. View in
PubMed

2/2