Thesis (M Nursing (Advanced Practice))--University of South Australia, 1994

While a handful of studies touch on the topic of hope and grandparent-grandchild (GPGC) relationship, none have made this subject the main object of inquiry. The purpose of this investigation was to explore how hope is reciprocated in extraordinary GP-GC relationships. Using a qualitative multiple case study design, three grandmother and adult granddaughter pairs were interviewed separately and were later observed engaging in a joint creative project. Nurturing, sharing and inspiring emerged as characteristics of grandmother-granddaughter relationships that were connected to hope. In addition, findings indicated that each member of the grandmother-granddaughter dyad helped the other envision a hopeful future. Grandmothers acted as hope models for their granddaughters. Reciprocally, granddaughters inspired their grandmothers to live longer by giving them hope for the future. While findings suggest that the GP-GC relationship holds potential for the intergenerational transfer of hope, future research is needed to further understand this process.

One hundred twenty-two undergraduate students at the University of North Texas were administered several different optimism scales and also measures of similar constructs such as hope. Results indicated that most measures of optimism show only low to moderate intercorrelations with other measures of the same construct. Additionally, factor analysis confirmed that the measures of optimism actually appear to be assessing multiple factors and not necessarily optimism alone. Implications of the present study include the necessity of individual researchers to be familiar with the specific measure of optimism used in a given study as scores on differing measures of optimism may actually be providing very different information.

Thesis advisor: Maureen E. Kenny / Hope theory (Snyder et al., 1991) is a cognitive framework for understanding how individuals plan and stay motivated to achieve their goals. Research suggests that high levels of hope among adolescents are associated with academic achievement and markers of career exploration (Day, Hanson, Maltby, Proctor, & Wood, 2010; Kenny, Walsh-Blair, Blustein, Bempechat, & Seltzer, 2010). However, some scholars have raised criticisms about the conceptual underpinnings of hope and its applicability to the lives of marginalized groups (Tong, Fredrickson, Weining, & Zi, 2010; Riele, 2010). Despite these criticisms, hope theory has been used to study academic achievement among students of color (Chang & Banks, 2007; Roesch, Duangado, Vaughn, Aldridge, and Vilodas, 2010). Existing studies have most often utilized quantitative frameworks that have provided limited insight into how hope is experienced in the daily lives of low income students of color and how it may embody their relational, social, and cultural contexts. A qualitative framework is well suited for addressing these shortcomings. The current study employed a phenomenological methodology to explore how low income students of color defined hope and experienced it in their daily lives. Twenty one students enrolled in a work-based learning program at an urban Catholic high school were interviewed individually and participated in a group written activity on hope in their communities. The results of the study showed that goal pursuit was embedded within a relational context where participants embodied the opportunities and barriers experienced in their families, schools, and communities. The participants defined hope in ways that surpassed existing theory and elucidated the dynamic and sometimes contradictory role of the social context. These findings provide avenues for intervention in the lives of marginalized youth that frame discussions of WBL programs within a larger social context where relational processes are vital for student success. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2014. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology.

The purpose of this research was to explore counsellors' experiences of hope in the counselling relationship in a number of counselling contexts, early in the twenty-first century in the United Kingdom. This research takes place against the background of considerable changes in mental health policy affecting counselling in both England and Wales. The wider political, social-cultural and economic context was marked by recession and uncertainty. A lack of research into counsellors' experiences of hope in the UK context was identified. A phenomenological perspective was taken as appropriate for exploring human experience with a social constructionist approach to the creation of knowledge complementing realist ontology with a pragmatic under pinning. Semi-structured interviews were conducted individually with seven participants chosen using purposive and convenience sampling in both England and Wales from within professional networks and a variety of counselling settings. The transcribed data was analysed using Thematic Analysis and identified themes evidenced with quotations from the data. The main findings were in the context of hope identified as a common human experience. Participants' found difficulty in accessing their experiences of hope and it was found to be an intermittent and liminal experience varying in intensity and part of a meaning making process. Characteristics of this liminality were found to be placing participants at the limit of what they knew, living with uncertainty and waiting for new knowledge to emerge. This created vulnerability for some participants. Hope was also found to be an embodied relational experience within counsellors which they also saw in their clients. Implications of the findings suggested that counsellors could more actively cultivate awareness of their own hope as a resource for clients within an understanding of counselling as a social and liminal process. It is recommended that professional training and Continuing Professional Development workshops provide opportunities for exploring hope in the context of liminality. Future research opportunities include encouraging counsellors to use case study method to explore their own experiences of hope in counselling relationships and that of clients. These findings are presented as specific to this context and not as general truths.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

Skilled worker immigrants can encounter many challenges as they settle in Canada. For individuals facing adversity, hope often helps in facing and overcoming difficulties (Edey & Jevne, 2003). The purpose of this study was to explore how the hope of skilled worker immigrants changed during their settlement process. Basic qualitative research (Merriam, 2009) informed the study design. Based on thematic analysis of interviews with four skilled worker immigrants, four meta-themes, referred to as phases, emerged. The findings are represented by these four broad phases, the last phase of which has two alternatives: (1) Arriving with High Hopes and Expectations, (2) Experiences Challenge Hope, (3) Crossroads: Hope or Hopelessness, and (4A) Getting Stuck in Anger and Sadness or (4B) Choosing Hope and Finding Strength. All participants regained their hope, which appeared closely related to their successful settlement and functioning. The implications of this research for counselling and policy are discussed. / Counselling Psychology

Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer deaths worldwide. Hope is considered essential to life and has been positively associated with coping. The purpose of this study was to describe the level of hope in patients receiving medical treatment for lung cancer. The study was guided by Dufault and Martocchio's multidimensional theoretical model of hope. A total of 167 patients were recruited for this cross sectional descriptive study from oncology clinics in the Southeast United States. Each participant completed a nine-item demographic self-survey questionnaire and a twelve-item, four point Likert-type Herth Hope Index (possible scores 12-48, higher score = higher hope) to measure the level of hope. Clinical information included lung cancer type, stage of lung cancer, and time since diagnosis. The overall total mean hope score was 41.48 (SD = 5.10). This finding suggests that although lung cancer patients may be at risk for lower hope scores, this study demonstrated that lung cancer patients continue to hope throughout their disease trajectory. The other major findings demonstrated that widow/widowers (n = 14, 8%), were more hopeful (M = 42.57) than divorced (n = 36, 22%), (M = 39.29) and Blacks/African Americans (n = 22, 13.2%) had higher levels of hope (M = 43.22) than Whites/Caucasians (n = 140, 83%) (M = 41.26). Participants undergoing second line of chemotherapy treatment n = 30 (18%), were more hopeful 43.63(4.99) compared to all others. Future studies may include measuring hope at the time of diagnosis and throughout the disease trajectory, as well as at multiple data points during different lines of chemotherapy treatment.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 1981. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 151-154). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center.

Although researchers are now able to assess reliably the variable of existential meaning, quality longitudinal investigations of meaning's relationship with specific clinical variables are scarce. The author conceptualizes existential meaning as a composite of personal, spiritual, and implicit meaning. These latter three variables are, respectively, the experience of one's particular life as having purpose and coherence, experiencing a transcendent or spiritual presence from which one derives a sense of unique purpose, and manifesting attitudes and behavior that are normatively valued. Utilizing a sample of 395 male and female undergraduates and employing the framework subscale of the Life Regard Index-Revised (LRI-R-framework), the Spiritual Meaning Scale (SMS), and the Personal Meaning Profile (PMP) to measure personal, spiritual, and implicit meaning, respectively, the author explored existential meaning's relationship over time with depressive symptoms (as measured with the Beck Depression Inventory-II, depression scale of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales, and depression scale of the Personality Assessment Inventory) and hope (as measured with the Herth Hope Scale, the Adult State Hope Scale, and the Beck Hopelessness Scale). A latent cross-lagged panel analysis of the relationship between meaning and depression over 2 one-month time periods indicated that meaning exerted unidirectional influence on depression, with decreases in meaning leading to increases in depressive symptoms. Additionally, hierarchical regression analysis showed that individuals with low levels of existential meaning were more likely than those with higher meaning levels to experience increased symptoms of depression in response to increased stress levels. Because the newly developed SMS (appended to this paper) was the only meaning measure exhibiting sufficient discriminant validity with regard to hope, only the SMS was entered in cross-lagged panel analysis measuring its relationship to hope over the 2 one-month periods of time, with results indicating that spiritual meaning and hope reciprocally influence one another. Existential meaning seems appropriately conceptualized as a construct consisting of personal, spiritual, and implicit components. Because this construct can be assessed reliably and may play a role in the etiology and alleviation of depressive symptoms, the author calls for increased research within clinical settings on methods for optimizing individuals' levels of existential meaning.