INFORMATION

Psicothema was founded in Asturias (northern Spain) in 1989, and is published jointly by the Psychology Faculty of the University of Oviedo and the Psychological Association of the Principality of Asturias (Colegio Oficial de Psicología del Principado de Asturias).
We currently publish four issues per year, which accounts for some 100 articles annually. We admit work from both the basic and applied research fields, and from all areas of Psychology, all manuscripts being anonymously reviewed prior to publication.

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  • Director: Laura E. Gómez Sánchez
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  • ISSN: 0214-9915
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Psychometric Properties and Measurement Invariance of the Herth Hope Index in Spanish Cancer Patients

Caterina Calderon1, Pere J. Ferrando2, Urbano Lorenzo-Seva2, Estrella Ferreira1, Elena Sorribes1, Raquel Hernández3, Irina Planellas-Kircnher1, Luka Mihic-Gongora4, Maria J. Corral1 and Paula Jiménez-Fonseca4

1 Universitat de Barcelona (Spain),
2 Universidad Rovira i Virgili (Spain),
3 Hospital Universitario de Canarias (Spain),
4 Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias (Spain)

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties, differential item functioning, factorial invariance, and convergent validity of the Spanish version of the Herth Hope Index (HHI) in patients with cancer. Method: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to explore the scale, dimensionality, functioning of items, test for strong measurement invariance across sex, age, tumor site, and expected survival, and an extended structural equation model to assess external validity in a cross-sectional, multicenter, prospective study of 863 cancer patients from 15 Spanish hospitals. Results: The results do not support the original 3-factor scale but instead suggest a one-factor structure, which explained 62% of the common variance. Scores from the unidimensional structure exhibited satisfactory reliability (ω= .88). A strong invariance solution demonstrated excellent fit across sex, age, tumor site, and survival. HHI exhibited substantial associations with resilience coping strategies and spiritual well-being. Conclusions: The findings of our study contribute to the diversity of earlier empirical findings regarding the construct of hope. Despite this, our results indicate that the Spanish version of the HHI is a short, easy-to-administer, valid, reliable tool for evaluating cancer patients’ levels of hope.

Antecedentes: El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar las propiedades psicométricas, el funcionamiento de los ítems, la invariancia factorial y la validez convergente de la versión española del Herth Hope Index (HHI) en pacientes con cáncer. Método: Estudio transversal, multicéntrico, prospectivo de 863 pacientes con cáncer de 15 hospitales españoles. Se realizaron análisis factoriales exploratorios y confirmatorios para explorar la dimensionalidad, el funcionamiento de los ítems, la invariancia de medición según el sexo, la edad, el sitio del tumor y la supervivencia esperada, y la validez externa. Resultados: Los resultados obtenidos no respaldan la escala original de 3 factores y en cambio sugieren una estructura de un factor, que explicó el 62% de la varianza común, con una confiabilidad satisfactoria (ω = .88). Una solución de invariancia fuerte demostró un excelente ajuste en función del sexo, la edad, el sitio del tumor y la supervivencia. HHI reveló asociaciones sustanciales con la resiliencia y el bienestar espiritual. Conclusiones: Nuestros resultados indican que la versión en español del HHI es una herramienta corta, fácil de administrar, válida y confiable para evaluar el nivel de esperanza de los pacientes con cáncer.

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Impact Factor JCR SSCI Clarivate 2023 = 3.2 (Q1) / CiteScore SCOPUS 2023 = 6.5 (Q1)