The German Version of the Herth Hope Index (HHI-D): Development and Psychometric Properties

Abstract

Background: The importance of hope is evident in clinical oncological care. Hope is associated with psychological and also physical functioning. However, there is still a dearth of empirical research on hope as a multidimensional concept. The Herth Hope Index is a reliable and valid instrument for the measurement of hope and is available in many languages. Until now no authorized German translation has been published and validated. Methods: After translation, the questionnaire was completed by 192 patients with different tumor entities in radiation therapy. Reliability, concurrent validity, and factor structure of the questionnaire were determined. Results: Correlations were high with depression and anxiety as well as optimism and pessimism. As expected, correlations with coping styles were moderate. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were satisfactory. We could not replicate the original 3-factor model. Application of the scree plot criterion in an exploratory factor analysis resulted in a single-factor structure. Conclusions: The Herth Hope Index - German Version (HHI-D) is a short, reliable, and valid instrument for the assessment of hope in patient populations. We recommend using only the HHI-D total score until further research gives more insights into possible factorial solutions and subscales.

Inspiring hope—A physician's responsibility, translating the science into clinical practice

“…It has been translated into many languages and is the most commonly used research tool internationally. 18,[22][23][24][25] For this reason most of the synthesis of hope in this review will be based on this psychometric instrument. 19 The other consideration in assessing hope is to recognize that it transcends personality types and cultures.…”

“…The HHI has since been tested for validity and reliability in a variety of settings, in a number of countries and in both healthy and unwell populations. It has been translated into many languages and is the most commonly used research tool internationally . For this reason most of the synthesis of hope in this review will be based on this psychometric instrument.…”

Cross-cultural adaptation and psychometric properties of the Herth Hope Index in Kinyarwanda: adapting a positive psychosocial tool for healthcare recipients and providers in the Rwandan setting

“…The HHI has been widely used in research and clinical practice in different cultural settings for various health areas [ 27 ]. Translations of the HHI into Chinese [ 28 ], Dutch [ 29 ], German [ 30 ], Italian [ 31 ], Japanese [ 32 ], Norwegian [ 33 ], Persian [ 34 ], Portuguese [ 35 ], Spanish [ 36 ], and Swedish [ 37 ] have been published with satisfactory psychometric properties.…”

Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Psychometric Evaluation of the Herth Hope Index Within a Sample of Iranian Older Peoples

“…The main problems identified during validation of the HHI has been two items (Item 4 “I can see a light in a tunnel” and Item 5 “I have faith that gives me comfort in the scale”; Benzein & Berg, 2003; Chan et al., 2012; Van Gestel-Timmermans et al., 2010). In addition, past studies have not been able to replicate the three-factor model (Geiser et al., 2015; Koizumi, Ito, Mori, & Miyamoto, 1999). Furthermore, the utilization of the total score rather than subtotals should be considered (Geiser et al., 2015).…”

“…HHI was designed to allow a quick assessment of hope in diverse adult populations using three factors of hope: temporality and the future, interconnectedness, and readiness and expectancy (Herth, 1992). In recent years there have been a number of researchers who have validated the HHI (e.g., (Benzein & Berg, 2003;Herth, 1992;Phillips-Salimi et al, 2007) and it has been adapted and translated into different languages e.g., Portuguese, Dutch, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 F o r P e e r R e v i e w 3 German, and Japanese (Geiser et al, 2015;Hirano, Sakita, Yamazaki, Kawai, & Sato, 2007;Van Gestel-Timmermans, Van Den Bogaard, Brouwers, Herth, & Van Nieuwenhuizen, 2010) as well as the Farsi language (Abdi & Lari, 2011).…”