The Relationships between the Hope Dimensions of Agency Thinking and Pathways Thinking With Depression and Anxiety: a Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Lack of hope may be important in the development and progression of depression and anxiety. Hope theory holds that hope has two cognitive components, agency thinking and pathways thinking. The aim of this meta-analytic study was to consolidate the results of studies investigating the relationships between agency thinking and pathways thinking with depression and anxiety Results showed that across studies both higher levels of agency and pathways thinking were associated with less depression and less anxiety. The weighted effect sizes for agency thinking were r = -.391 for depression and r = -.259 for anxiety. The weighted effect sizes for pathways thinking were r = -.328 for depression and r = -.206 for anxiety. The effect size for the association of agency thinking with depression was substantially larger than the effect size for the association of pathways thinking for depression. Agency thinking and pathways thinking were both more strongly associated with depression than anxiety. The agency thinking association with depression and anxiety increased in strength with age, while pathways thinking did not. The findings suggest that even though both pathways thinking and agency thinking as aspects of hope play important roles in relation to depression and anxiety, agency thinking may be especially pivotal. Future research can build on these results with experimental designs to generate causal findings and investigate ways to enhance agency thinking and pathways thinking as a means to reduce depression and anxiety.