Hope attenuates the negative impact of general psychological distress on goal progress.

Abstract

Symptoms of general psychological distress disrupt goal pursuit; however, not everyone is equally impacted by distress when pursuing goals. We tested whether hope, self-efficacy, and/or grit buffered the impact of symptoms of general psychological distress on longitudinal goal progress. Undergraduate students reported on these constructs and, 2 months later, their progress toward five personal goals (N = 117). Although greater levels of baseline psychological distress predicted less goal progress, the impact of psychological distress on goal progress was moderated by hope, β = .20, SE = 0.07, p < .01. More specifically, at higher hope, participants reported similar goal progress regardless of baseline distress symptoms, while at lower hope, baseline distress was negatively associated with goal progress. Hope may function as a buffer against the association between general psychological distress and impaired goal progress.