Hope, parenting styles, and resilience in Lebanese university youth -

Abstract

This study investigated the construct of hope by examining whether Snyder’s (2002) model which splits hope into two factors, agency thinking and pathway thinking, fits into the Lebanese context. This study also examined the discriminative validity of hope when compared to similar constructs such as optimism and affect. Authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive parenting styles and resilience were examined to assess whether they are possible predictors of hope. A total of 275 Lebanese university youth (56.4percent females) completed, in a counterbalanced order, the Arabic version of each of the Adult Hope Scale, Revised Life Orientation Scale, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, Parental Authority Questionnaire, and the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale. Factor analysis revealed that hope was made of two factors, yet the item loadings on each factor were incongruent to the theorized structure. Results showed that items mostly loaded on the factor of agency rather than pathway thinking. Further, correlational analysis revealed that optimism, positive affect, resilience, and authoritative parenting styles were positively related to hope, while negative affect was negatively related to hope. Authoritarian and permissive parenting styles were revealed to be non-significantly related to hope. Lastly, multiple regression analyses further revealed that each of resilience, positive affect, authoritative parenting styles, and negative affect, predicted hope. Interpretation and implications of these results and findings are discussed, along with the limitations of the present study and possible future research directions.