Factors of the Beck Hopelessness Scale: Fact or artifact?

Weighted least-squares factor analyses of the tetrachoric correlations, principal components analyses of the G-index correlations, and principal components analyses of the phi correlations among the 20 items of the Beck Hopelessness Scale were conducted with 1,126 outpatients who were diagnosed with primary mood disorders and 732 who were diagnosed with primary anxiety disorders. Two dimensions reflecting pessimism about the future and resignation to the futility of changing the future were found in both diagnostic groups, regardless of factor analytic method or type of data transformation.