Effects of hope-based intervention on psychological outcomes of primary 6 students in Hong Kong

Abstract

This study examined the effectiveness of a hope-based intervention on hope, subjective well-being, goal attainment and degree of goal internalization in a sample of primary 6 students from Hong Kong. Participants were randomly assigned to either intervention condition or control condition. Results from ANCOVAs suggested that there were no main intervention effects on hope and on goal attainment. However, participants benefited from internalizing their self-set goal in the intervention. Concerning the intervention effect on subjective well-being, significant interaction was found. Consistent with the dynamical systems model, regression analyses demonstrated that participants with high initial pleasant affect was more responsive to the intervention and benefited the most in terms of latter pleasant affect. In addition, it was found that goal attainment was significantly associated with subjective well-being and hopeful thinking. Possible explanations for the inconsistent findings with previous studies are provided. Implications for future research on hope-based intervention are also discussed.