Validation and Reliability of the Children's Hope Scale in Young Australian Children

In collaboration with our research partners at the Behaviour-Brain-Body Research Centre University of South Australia, we are very pleased to announce the publication of our latest peer-reviewed publication: Richter, S., Dorrian, J., Wicking, P., Wicking, A., & Lushington, K. (2024). Children’s Hope Scale: factor structure and norms for Australian children aged 8–18 years. Australian Journal of Psychology, 76(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/00049530.2024.2322724

The Children's Hope Scale (CHS) is recognized as a powerful tool for measuring hope, a key protective factor in children. It is widely utilized to assess levels of hope in older children and adolescents. However, there has been ongoing debate about whether the CHS is unidimensional or two-dimensional. Our findings confirm that the CHS operates as a unidimensional scale, meaning it measures a single construct of hope. Additionally, our paper validates the scale for use in Australian children and can be reliably administered to children as young as eight years old.

The confirmation of the CHS as a unidimensional scale simplifies its application and interpretation, making it a robust instrument for psychological assessments. Its validation across different age groups and cultural contexts, particularly in Australian children, enhances its credibility and utility in both clinical and educational settings. These findings reinforce the importance of fostering hope in children and provide practitioners with a reliable method to assess and support this crucial aspect of mental health and wellbeing.

‘Children’s Hope Scale: factor structure and norms for Australian children aged 8–18 years’ is a significant contribution to the international literature on hope and hopefulness.