The Beck Hopelessness Scale is a questionnaire that evaluates a patient’s risk of suicide by asking them to classify 20 statements as true or false. A higher score indicates a higher risk of suicide, with four possible outcomes. The scale has proven to be highly accurate for high-risk patients and drug users.
The Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) is a questionnaire in which a patient answers “true” or “false” to a series of 20 statements that test his or her feelings about the future. The purpose of filling out the questionnaire is to determine the likelihood of a particular person attempting suicide. Since the Beck Hopelessness Scale was first tested and used, it has proven to be an invaluable tool with a high level of accuracy when attempting to determine a person’s risk of suicide. The scale is a derivation of the Beck Depression Inventory, another test used to determine the level of depression a patient is experiencing.
Patients using the scale respond to a series of 20 statements made in the first person. The patient classifies each statement as true or false, evaluating his feelings. Finally, the responses to the statements are summed according to a key to find the patient’s rank on the despair scale; a higher number indicates a higher risk of suicide.
The scale rates the patient’s potential suicide as one of four possible outcomes. A score of 3 or lower means there is minimal risk of suicide. A score between 4 and 8 indicates a low risk. Scores ranging from 9 to 14 indicate a moderate chance of suicide, while scores of 15 or higher show a serious risk of suicide. The reliability of the Beck Hopelessness Scale is very high and has proven to be a very good risk assessment.
More than half of rating statements on the Beck Hopelessness Scale were adapted from statements actually made by psychiatric patients diagnosed as hopeless and depressed in mood. The remaining test questions were constructed as neutral statements relating to hopeless attitudes about the future. Through peer review, statements have been carefully reviewed and reworded to be as clear and neutral as possible.
The Beck Hopelessness Scale has been tested extensively on patient groups who belonged to high-risk groups. It was also later tested on substance abusing groups, excluding alcoholics. The questionnaire proved to be highly accurate when administered to high-risk patients and drug users who were adults. The validity of the test is unknown for children and is slightly less accurate when given to patients who are not in a high risk group for suicide.
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