STHS Description

Hopelessness is a negative outlook and sense of helplessness toward the future.

Hopelessness may represent a state in response to new events in one’s life or may reflect a person’s chronic outlook toward life (a trait).

The differentiation between state and trait hopelessness is important, as state hopelessness may be more responsive to short-term interventions that can be used in an outpatient setting, whereas trait hopelessness may require long-term cognitive therapy.

Hopelessness can be independent of depression, or a precursor to depression.

Hopelessness is associated with increased mortality and poor health outcomes.

The STHS© was developed and tested to differentiate state and trait hopelessness for use in clinical settings and in research.

The scale was created using key components of the Theory of Hopelessness Depression.

The STHS© is a 23-item (10 State, 13 Trait) instrument measured on a 4-point Likert-type scale (higher scores indicate greater levels of hopelessness).

Research supports reliability and validity of the STHS©.

Dunn, S. L., Bomgaars, D., Van De Griend, K. M., Jensen, G. A., White, L. L., Goodyke, M. P., Luong, A., Gutierrez-Kapheim, M., & Tintle, N. L. (2022). Reliability and Validity of the State-Trait Hopelessness Scale in a Primarily Rural Population of Adults With Ischemic Heart Disease in the US Great Plains. The Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, 10.1097/JCN.0000000000000886. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1097/JCN.0000000000000886

Dunn, S. L., DeVon, H. A., Buursma, M. P., Boven, E., & Tintle, N. L. (2020). Reliability and validity of the The State-Trait Hopelessness Scale in patients with heart disease and moderate to severe hopelessness. Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, 35(2), 126-130. doi: 10.1097/JCN.0000000000000647