81) and a good internal consistency (alpha =. The scale has a good reliability (test-retest, r =. The hopelessness scale is valid, and differentiates depressive patients from control subjects. The Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) is a proprietary instrument.
A total score is calculated by summing the pessimistic responses for each of the 20 items. Summary of the Beck Hopelessness Scale Each optimistic response is scored as 0 and each pessimistic response is scored as 1.
