The assessment of hope in people with severe mental illness

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22425469

Psychiatry Res. 2012 Mar 15. [Epub ahead of print]

Validation of the Integrative Hope Scale in people with psychosis.

Schrank B, Woppmann A, Hay Grant A, Sibitz I, Zehetmayer S, Lauber C.

Source

King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF, United Kingdom; Medical University Vienna, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Währinger Gürtel 18-20, 1090 Vienna, Austria.

Abstract

Hope is an important variable in mental health, particularly in the emergent field of recovery- and wellbeing-focused research. This study validates the "Integrative Hope Scale" (IHS) for use in people with severe mental illness. Two hundred participants diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were assessed using the IHS, the Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, and the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale. Sixty participants were re-assessed after 14days to establish re-test reliability. Confirmatory factor analysis was carried out, correlations between the scales and kappa coefficients were used to establish validity and reliability. The factor analysis confirmed a four-factor solution with excellent model fit, after minor modifications to the initial model. Discriminant validity and internal consistency were excellent. Test-retest reliability was good except for one item. This study suggests the scale to be a valid, reliable and feasible tool for the assessment of hope in people with severe mental illness. It provides a sound basis for future research on hope in mental health. For use in people with psychosis, we suggest some minor modifications to the scale.