An Exploration of Hope in Catholic School Students

2003

This study explores the validity of a construct of cognitive spirituality as measured by a recent measure, the Spirituality Index of Well-Being, in a sample of Catholic high school students. Spirituality on this scale is conceptualized as a composite of life scheme (having meaning in one’s life) and generalized self-efficacy. Construct-based validity evidence was produced through factor analysis and examination of correlations between the spirituality scale and subscale scores with scale and subscale scores on the Children’s Hope Scale, a well-being indicator previously used for this population. In addition, differences between male and female students were found, with females producing higher scores on the life scheme subscale, suggesting a greater sense of meaning in their lives. The Spirituality Index of Well-Being also demonstrated high internal reliability in this sample. It is argued that the goal of Catholic education is education of the whole person and that this conceptuali...

Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 2006

The major goals of this study were to (a) investigate the relationships among adolescent students' levels of hope and various academic and psychological indicators of school adjustment, and (b) determine critical levels of hope associated with these indicators. Using the Children's Hope Scale (Snyder, Hoza et al., 1997), results from a hierarchical cluster analysis placed youth into a low, average, and high hope group. Youth in the high hope group differed from students with low hope on all independent measures. Further, youth reporting high hope also differed from students reporting average levels of hope on personal adjustment, global life satisfaction, and self-reported grade point average. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed. Research over the past three decades has investigated the construct of hope, with the work of Snyder and colleagues contributing the majority of findings to the literature (e.g., Snyder, 2002; Snyder, Shorey et al., 2002). From this perspective, hope theory reflects individuals' perceptions about their ability to plan cognitive strategies (or pathways) to achieve desired goals. In addition, hope also incorporates motivational strategies (or agency thinking) to utilize those pathways. Both components share a reciprocal relationship and are considered necessary to achieve daily living goals (Chang, 2003; Snyder, 2004). Most of the extant research investigating hope has utilized the Hope Scale (Snyder et al., 1991), combining the raw scores of the Pathways and

Psychology in the Schools, 2015

This study investigated the characteristics of students who report extremely high levels of hope. A sample of 682 students (ages 11-17) completed measures of hope, school engagement, life satisfaction, self-worth, and mental health. Academic achievement was obtained from students' school records. Based on their hope scores, students were divided into three groups: "extremely low" (bottom 10% of the distribution), "average" (middle 25%), and "extremely high" (upper 10%). Results indicate that students in the extremely high hope (EHH) group differed from students with average (AH) and extremely low hope (ELH) on all measures. Further, EHH and AH are associated with mental health benefits that are not found among students reporting comparatively ELH levels. Taken together, the findings support the notion that EHH in students is associated with adaptive psychological and school-related functioning. Overall, given the superior adjustment profile, perhaps ''enough hope'' should be defined as "EHH."

Although hope is a valued construct in psychotherapy, it tends to be viewed as adjunct to more focal interventions or as leverage for other valued goals. We contend that hope needs to be a targeted intervention in many cases. We will highlight issues arising in the acquisition of therapeutic hope. We acknowledge hope's dual nature as both a "gift" from God as well as an attribute that can be cultivated. Our main objectives are to define hope, confirm its essential role in well-being, recognize various hope mechanisms, introduce relevant theory, briefly highlight hope attainment issues, promote a variety of hope interventions, and list some helpful assessments and resources that can aid in nur-turing the seeds of hope and optimism. Evidence will be reviewed for the role of hope and optimism in relation to physical and mental health, life success and satisfaction, and resilience during adversity. We advocate for the central role of hope in God's plan for his children...

The goals of this chapter are to explore the role of hope in predicting academic achievements and educational adjustment, focusing attention on developmental perspectives, and directing attention to different age groups: children, adolescents and young adults. The recent growing scientific interest in the hope theory and the contribution of future perspectives for explaining students' success and adjustment have been explored among various academic environments. Studies have identified the construct's contribution to students' wellbeing and development. Comparisons between individuals with special needs and their peers have extended the understanding of hope's role as a mediator within the salutogenic approach. Furthermore, the survey of studies focused on hope among significant individuals in the life of students, such as parents and teachers, emphasized their critical role and extended the understanding of the importance of social support in families and schools.

Journal of School Psychology, 2006

Psychologists have placed an increased emphasis on identifying psychological strengths that foster healthy development. Hope, as operationalized in Snyder's hope theory . The development and validation of the childrenTs hope scale. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 22, 399-421], is one such cognitivemotivational construct that has received recent attention as a potential psychological strength that may serve as a protective factor for adolescents in the face of adverse life events. This longitudinal study, involving middle and high school students, provided evidence of (1) stability of hope reports of adolescents over a 1-year period, (2) predictive validity of adolescent hope reports, and (3) hope's functional role as a moderator in the relationship between stressful life events and adolescent wellbeing. Taken together, the results provide support for consideration of hope as a key psychological strength in youth. The findings are consistent with theories of motivation in which individual differences in hopeful thinking are conceptualized to play a functional role in linking life events and psychological well being.

Psychology in the Schools, 2019

Hope-a multidimensional positive motivational state-is particularly salient with adolescents in the school setting. Cognitive hope focuses on goal attainment cognitions whereas behavioral hope focuses on actions required for goal attainment. Studies rarely examine the contribution of

2015

Academic stress is the result of combination of academic related demands that exceed the adaptive resources available to students. Senior secondary students experience academic stress due to excessive burden of studies, expectations from peer, parents, teachers and self, extracurricular activities, choice of appropriate career etc. Hope is the state which promotes the belief in a good outcome related to events and circumstances in one's life. It is a positive motivational state that is based on an interactively derived sense of successful agency (goal-directed energy) and pathways (planning to meet goals) (Snyder, 1991).The objective of this paper is to study how hope is related with academic stress among senior secondary students.

Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Social Work: Social Thought, 2018

Multiple studies have found an inverse relationship between adolescent religiosity and adolescent depression. However, further research is needed to better understand the complexity of this relationship. One potential mediator that may help to explain this relationship is hope. Prior research has found that adolescent religiosity is predictive of increased adolescent hope and that higher levels of adolescent hope have been associated with multiple positive outcomes, including mental health in adolescents. However, no research has explored the mediational role of hope between religiosity and depressive symptoms in adolescents. Cross-sectional data from 459 adolescents were used to test this mediational or indirect effect. The direct effect between religiosity and depressive symptoms was not significant. However, there was a significant indirect effect whereby higher levels of adolescent religiosity were associated with higher levels of adolescent hope, which in turn were associated with lower levels of adolescent depressive symptoms.

2017

Hope is recognized as an important aspect of human growth, change and wellbeing (Erikson, 1964, 1968, 1985; Turner, 2005). Hope has been defined as the anticipation that one's future will be both meaningful and desirable (Stephenson, 1991) and is acknowledged as essential to daily life (Erikson, 1968; Hall, 1990; Obayuwana, 1980; Turner, 2005). Although the concept of hope has been extensively researched in adults from multiple perspectives, research remains scarce on how children develop hope, experience hope and understand hope (Larsen &