Adult Hope Scale : validation in older adults

dc.contributor.authorLabrosciano, Kate
dc.contributor.authorDorrian, Jillian
dc.contributor.authorLowies, Gert Abraham (Braam)
dc.contributor.authorRussell, Roslyn
dc.contributor.authorLushington, Kurt
dc.date.accessioned2025-08-27T05:39:10Z
dc.date.available2025-08-27T05:39:10Z
dc.date.issued2025
dc.descriptionDATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT : The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, [KLu], upon reasonable request.
dc.description.abstractOBJECTIVE : The Adult Hope Scale (AHS) is a widely used measure of hope and is reported to contain two distinct but interrelated constructs of agency (motivation to achieve goals) and pathways (planning routes to goals). Hope is thought to play a key role in the wellbeing of older people and while the AHS has been validated in young/middle-aged adults, the factor structure remains to be tested in older adults. METHOD : Using computer-assisted personal communication, the AHS was completed by 1454 older Australians (726 F, age (mean (sd)) = 66.4 (5.81) y, range 55–84 y) stratified according to gender, location (metropolitan vs non-metropolitan), retirement status (yes/no) and age (55–65 vs 65 + y). Dimensionality was tested by (i) bifactor modelling (one-factor, two-factor and a bifactor model with a general factor, Hope, and two specific factors, Agency and Pathways) and (ii) exploratory graph analysis (which uses community detection algorithms to cluster variables into factors). Cross-gender invariance was also tested. Hope scores were compared between demographics and wellbeing (i.e. WHO-5 mental wellbeing and positive/negative coping questionnaire) groupings. RESULTS : Both bifactor modelling and exploratory graph analysis reveal that the AHS is unidimensional. Gender was shown to be invariant. Hope scores were comparable between demographic groupings, but higher scores were observed in older adults with higher mental wellbeing and positive coping with effect sizes in the small to medium range. CONCLUSIONS : This study confirms that the AHS is a unidimensional scale and can be used to reliably measure hope in older Australian men and women. KEY POINTS What is already known about this topic: (1) Hope plays an important role across the lifespan. (2) The Adult Hope Scale (AHS) has been validated in young/middle aged adults. (3) The AHS is reported to contain two factors: Agency and Pathways. What this topic adds: (1) The AHS is a unidimensional rather than a bidimensional scale in older adults. (2) It is validated for use in older Australians. (3) The presence of a single dimension is confirmed by two independent approaches: bifactor modelling and exploratory graph analysis.
dc.description.departmentFinancial Management
dc.description.librarianhj2025
dc.description.sdgSDG-03: Good health and well-being
dc.description.sponsorshipThe Ecstra Foundation under their ‘Financial Wellbeing and Aging’ programme.
dc.description.urihttps://www.tandfonline.com/journals/raup20
dc.identifier.citationKate Labrosciano, Jillian Dorrian, Braam Lowies, Roslyn Russell & Kurt Lushington (2025) Adult Hope Scale: validation in older adults, Australian Journal of Psychology, 77:1, 2532077, DOI: 10.1080/00049530.2025.2532077.
dc.identifier.issn0004-9530 (print)
dc.identifier.issn1742-9536 (online)
dc.identifier.other10.1080/00049530.2025.2532077
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/104008
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherRoutledge
dc.rights© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).
dc.subjectAdult Hope Scale (AHS)
dc.subjectHope
dc.subjectOlder adults
dc.subjectFactor analysis
dc.subjectValidation
dc.titleAdult Hope Scale : validation in older adults
dc.typeArticle

Files

Original bundle

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Labrosciano_Adult_2025.pdf
Size:
967.66 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Article

License bundle

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.71 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description: