Objectives:To examine the construct and correlates of hopelessness among family caregivers of Nigerian psychiatric patients.Materials and Methods:This is a cross-sectional, descriptive study involving 264 family caregiver-patients’ dyads recruited from two university teaching hospitals psychiatric clinics in Southwestern Nigeria.Results:Exploratory factor analysis revealed a two-factor 9-item model of the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) among the family caregivers. Confirmatory factor analysis of the model revealed satisfactory indices of fitness (goodness of fit index = 0.97, comparative fit index = 0.96, Chi-square/degree of freedom (CMIN/DF) = 1.60, root mean square error of approximation = 0.048, expected cross-validation index = 0.307, and standardized root mean residual = 0.005). Reliability of the scale was modestly satisfactory (Cronbach's alpha 0.72). Construct validity of scale was supported by significant correlations with the family caregivers’ scores on the Zarit Burden Interview, mini international neuropsychiatric interview suicidality module, General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12), and Patient Health Questionnaire-9. The greatest variance in the family caregivers’ scores on the BHS was contributed by their scores on the psychological distress scale (GHQ-12).Conclusions:The BHS has adequate psychometric properties among Nigerian psychiatric patients’ family caregivers. There is the need to pay attention to the psychological well-being of the family caregivers of Nigerian psychiatric patients.

Background: The Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS), as the most globally utilized measure of hopelessness, has been recognized to be very useful in the prediction of suicide. Its psychometric properties in terms of its factor structure, validity, and reliability have not been examined among Nigerian student nurses. The rate of suicide has previously been reported to be high among nurses and student nurses. Objective: The purpose of this study, is to explore the psychometric properties of the BHS in a non-clinical sample of student nurses (438), selected from four tertiary health care affiliated training institutions in SouthWestern Nigeria. The student nurses completed the BHS, in addition to the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12) and a sociodemographic questionnaire. Results: The BHS exhibited satisfactory reliability (Cronbach's alpha 0.89), while its convergent validity was supported via significant correlations with the GHQ-12 (r = 0.724, P < 0.001), PHQ-9 (r = 0.749, P < 0.001), and RSES (r = −0.727, P < 0.001). It also exhibited satisfactory discriminative concurrent criterion validity through its ability to reflect higher hopelessness scores in the student nurses with GHQ-12 and PHQ-9 scores above the cut off points. Exploratory factor analysis applying principal axis factoring indicates that the construct of hopelessness is best explained by a two-factor 18-item model. Conclusions: The BHS is a valid and reliable measure of hopelessne ss among Nigerian student nurses. The findings in this study indicate that there may be need to establish interventions that will reduce the severity of hopelessness among Nigerian student nurses through the screening for depressive symptoms and psychological distress.

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