Feasibility of the Schizophrenia Hope Scale-9: A Psychometric Study

Hope is essential in rehabilitating persons with schizophrenia, though scales to measure hope are not appropriate for this population. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to identify the psychometric properties of the Schizophrenia Hope Scale-9 (SHS-9) using data from 83 people with schizophrenia in four mental health centers and 762 healthy persons from two universities in South Korea. The total SHS-9 score is calculated by adding all items' scores and ranges from 0 to 18. The mean (standard deviation) SHS-9 score of the participants with schizophrenia and healthy participants was 11.53 (SD = 4.78) and 14.78 (SD = 3.19), respectively. Lower scores indicate a lower level of hope. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.92 with a four-week test-retest reliability of 0.89. Criterion-related construct validity was established by examining the correlation between the SHS-9 and the State-Trait Hope Inventory scores. Divergent validity was identified through a negative relationship of SHS-9 with the Beck Hopelessness Scale. In persons with schizophrenia and healthy college students, Bartlett's test of sphericity yielded χ² = 465.03 (p < 0.001) and χ2 = 2679.24 (p < 0.001) respectively. The values of the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling adequacy were 0.89 and 0.90, respectively. The construct validity of the SHS-9 was confirmed through principal component analysis with extraction methods, which resulted in a one-factor solution, accounting for 61.83% of the total item variance. This study provides evidence for the validity and reliability of the SHS-9; therefore, it could be used to study the relationships between hope and other variables (e.g., depression and recovery) in persons with schizophrenia and measure the effect of psychosocial interventions on their hope.