Measuring Hopelessness and Life Orientation in Pakistani Adolescents

Abstract

To gain information on the attitudes and life orientations of Pakistani adolescents, the present study aimed at measuring hopelessness and hopefulness in Pakistani adolescents. The Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS; Beck, Weissman, Lester, & Trexler, 1974) and the Life Orientation Test (LOT; Scheier & Carver, 1985; Scheier, Carver, & Bridges, 1994) were translated into Urdu and validated for use in Pakistan. Back translation with a committee approach was used to translate the scales. The translated versions were administered to 723 adolescents and young adults in Pakistan. For the Urdu-BHS, all item-total correlation coefficients were significant and yielded a single component. The principal component analysis on the Urdu-LOT yielded two components representing positively worded Optimism items and negatively worded Pessimism items. The BHS, as well as the two subscales of the LOT, were found to be predictive of suicide ideation. Gender comparisons showed that the two genders differed significantly on Hopelessness and the Optimism component of the Urdu-LOT. The Urdu version of the BHS and the LOT are established for use with young Pakistanis, after translations, and reliability and validity analyses. The need for further empirical research is emphasized for understanding the concepts and antecedents of hopelessness, optimism, and pessimism in adolescents, generally and in Pakistani adolescents, specifically.