The Beck Hopelessness Scale: Factor structure, validity and reliability in a non-clinical sample of student nurses in South-western Nigeria -

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background: The Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), as the most globally utilized measure of hopelessness, has been recognized to be very useful in the prediction of suicide. Its psychometric properties in terms of its factor structure, validity and reliability has not been examined among Nigerian student nurses. The rate of suicide has previously been reported to be high among nurses and student nurses. Objective: The purpose of this study, is to explore the psychometric properties of the BHS in a non-clinical sample of student nurses (438), selected from 4 tertiary health care affiliated training institutions in South-western Nigeria. The student nurses completed the BHS, in addition to the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12) and a sociodemographic questionnaire. Results: The BHS exhibited satisfactory reliability (Cronbach’s alpha 0.89), while its convergent validity was supported via significant correlations with the GHQ-12 (r = 0.724, p