Psychometric examination and factorial validity of a German short form of the Beck Hopelessness Scale in three different samples

Background

Hopelessness is a transdiagnostically relevant clinical construct, related to depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and suicidality. Economic, valid, and reliable assessment of hopelessness is thus crucial for both research and clinical practice. This study aimed at validating a nine-item short version of the Beck Hopelessness Scale in three large German samples of psychiatric inpatients, psychotherapy outpatients, and healthy controls.

Methods

Data from N = 2321 participants (86.3 % female, mean age 31.8 years [SD=10.4]) were used to analyze reliability, factorial validity, concurrent and discriminant validity of the BHS-9.

Results

Results showed good psychometric characteristics of the BHS-9 in inpatients, supporting its unidimensionality, construct validity, and reliability. However, factorial validity was insufficient in outpatients and controls.

Limitations

In the outpatient and control samples, the majority of participants were women. All reported analyses were cross-sectional.

Conclusions

The BHS-9 appears to be suitable for assessing hopelessness in psychiatric inpatients. However, the factorial validity of this short instrument in non-inpatient settings should be subject to future studies before its implementation in these person groups can be recommended.