Abstract

MARQUES, Susana C.; PAIS-RIBEIRO, J. L.  and  LOPEZ, Shane. Temporal stability of the children hope scale and students´life satisfaction scale. Psic., Saúde & Doenças [online]. 2008, vol.9, n.2, pp.245-252. ISSN 1645-0086.

Hope and satisfaction with life are individual difference variables with a dispositional nature. They receive special attention related to their importance of building on human positive development and as potentials contributors to the development of other positive behaviours and attitudes. In this later regard, having as foundation the characteristics and potentialities of hope and satisfaction with life, we consider relevant to evaluate the stability of these variables across time. The goal of the study is to evaluate the students hope and satisfaction with life scores over a 6 months period. The study include a convenience sample of 367 individuals from the community (53.1% females; age M = 11.78 years, range 10-15 years). Participants completed a questionnaire packet that included the Portuguese versions of the “Children Hope Scale” (CHS; Snyder et al., 1997) and “Students’ Life Satisfaction Scale” (SLSS; Huebner, 1991). Results show that the test-retest stability coefficient is .60 for the CHS and .69 for the SLSS. The results support the theoretical premise that hope and satisfaction with life demonstrates some trait-like properties. The longitudinal design of this study, in which hope and satisfaction with life scores were reassessed after a 6 month period, is a significant increase in comparison to previous studies that have assessed test-retest stability after a 1-, 2-week or 1-month interval. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Keywords : Children and adolescents; Hope; Satisfaction with life; Test-retest reliability.

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