Abstract
Positive Psychology has gained an important role in mental health, especially since it has become clear that health is not merely the absence of illness. Concepts such as hope and optimism are two relevant Positive Future Thinking constructs related to wellbeing, life satisfaction and coping with adversities. Hope has been defined as a «positive motivational state that is based on an interactively derived sense of successful (a) agency (goal-directed energy) and (b) pathways (planning to meet goals)» (Snyder, Irving & Anderson, 1991), while optimism has been defined as «positive generalized outcome expectancies» (Scheier & Carver, 1985). Several authors have suggested that these concepts (and others such as self-esteem and self-efficacy) are difficult to differentiate from each other, pointing out the need to clarify and delimit in a better way the particular components of each construct. In an effort to shed light on these issues, this work analyzes the relationship between levels of hope, optimism and depression in a clinical sample. The sample was composed of 119 patients (from two psychological assistance services: PReVi and SaP), of which 96.6 % were women. The mean age was 44 years old (range 16 to 66 years). All of them answered a survey assessing optimism (Life Orientation Test-Revised), hope (Hope Scale) and depression (Beck Depression Inventory-II). A correlation analysis was performed on the data. Hope scores (agency, pathways and total score) were negatively and significantly related to depression. However, optimism was not significantly related to depression scores. In addition, optimism was associated with agency subscale and total hope scores, but not with pathways AG OR A DE SALU T I I ISSN: 2443-9827. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.6035/AgoraSalut.2015.2.24 pp. 245-256 246 AGORA DE SALUT. VOL. II. ISSN: 2443-9827. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.6035/AgoraSalut.2015.2.24 pp. 245-256 subscale. These findings support the relevance of both hope and optimism concepts for the mental health field and agree with previous studies that found that they are related but not redundant concepts. keywords: hope, optimism, depression, positive future thinking, pathways, agency.
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