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This longitudinal study investigated the role of psychological difficulties and self-efficacy in the relationship between family cumulative risk and hope among children from low-income families. The participants were 392 Chinese children from low-income families; the study extended for 2 years, and participants completed data that were collected with the following questionnaires: the Family Cumulative Risk Index, Children's Hope Scale, Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire-Difficulties subscale, and General Self-efficacy Scale. The results demonstrated that psychological difficulties played a mediating role in the relationship between family cumulative risk and hope; specifically, family cumulative risk predicted hope of children via psychological difficulties. Self-efficacy moderated the relationship between psychological difficulties and hope. This moderation supported "a drop in the ocean effect"; the protective effect of high self-efficacy worked only when psychological difficulties were at low levels. When psychological difficulties were at high levels, the buffering effect of self-efficacy on family cumulative risk was gradually weakened and eventually lost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The original Snyder's Dispositional Hope Scale (DHS) was applied to 224 American college students and the Chinese version to 255 Chinese college students. Equivalence of the two DHS was tested, including configural invariance, metric invariance, and scalar invariance. The results demonstrated that the Snyder's DHS has measurement equivalence between Chinese and American college students; that is, the same psychological structure was measured in Chinese and American college samples. Therefore, cross‐cultural measurements of hope are valid. In addition, Chinese college students and American college students did not differ significantly on the Agency factor of the DHS whereas American students scored significantly higher than did Chinese college students on the Pathways factor. This dissimilarity may be explained by differences in the cultural backgrounds and education systems of the two countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objective: This study aimed to examine the relationship between depression and two dimensions of hope (pathways thinking and agency thinking) in college students and explore the dynamics of the causal relationship between these variables. Methods: A longitudinal study was conducted and included 381 college students. Hope and depression were measured using Snyder's State Hope Scale and the Center for Epidemiological Survey Depression Scale respectively, four times within a year (at 4‐month intervals), and cross‐lagged regression analysis was performed. Results: The bidirectional paths between pathways thinking and depression were highly significant. The paths from agency thinking to depression were non‐significant, but the paths from depression to agency thinking were significant. Conclusion: There was a significant bidirectional relationship between pathways thinking and depression. In addition, depression levels predicted levels of agency thinking, but levels of agency thinking did not predict depression levels. Therefore, interventions for depression should include strategies that assist individuals in the use of pathways thinking to establish specific routes via which to achieve their goals. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]