The Beck Hopelessness Scale: Psychometric properties in a sample of Iranian medical students with suicidal ideation.

INTRODUCTION

Hopelessness has consistently emerged as the strongest predictor of suicide, underscoring the critical need for a reliable measure to assess this construct effectively. The present study aimed to investigate the psychometric properties of the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) among Iranian medical students with suicidal ideation.

METHODS

This study employed a descriptive-correlational design. The statistical population consisted of medical students in Tehran in 2024 who reported suicidal ideation. Through convenience sampling, a sample of 355 medical students was recruited. Data were collected using the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation (BSSI), Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), and Tehran Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (TMPS).

RESULTS

Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that the single-factor structure of the Beck Hopelessness Scale demonstrated good model fit among medical students with suicidal ideation in Tehran. Furthermore, the McDonald's omega indicated a value of 0.92. The BHS exhibited significant correlations with depression (r = 0.61), suicidal ideation (r = 0.53), self-oriented perfectionism (r = 0.29), other-oriented perfectionism (r = 0.21), and socially prescribed perfectionism (r = 0.34; p < .01), thereby supporting its convergent validity.

CONCLUSION

These results indicate that the Beck Hopelessness Scale possesses robust psychometric characteristics among medical students experiencing suicidal ideation in Tehran.