Hope, Optimism, Gratitude, and Wellbeing among Health Professional Minority College Students

Objectives: To (1) describe the level of hope, optimism, and gratitude in a sample of minority health professional college students. (2) To examine the association between hope, optimism, and gratitude with wellbeing domains. Participants: One hundred and thirty-two (n = 132) college students from the Nursing, Medicine, and Allied Health programs. Methods: Cross-sectional survey study assessed wellbeing across the five domains of positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment. Results: Mean and Standard Deviation on hope, optimism, and gratitude were 50.2 ± 5.6; 21.7 ± 4.34; and 36.3 ± 5.35, respectively. Hope, optimism, and gratitude were positively associated with domains of wellbeing, controlling for gender and age. Conclusion: Students maintained a positive outlook in life. Hopeful, optimistic, and grateful students experienced positive emotion, were more engaged in their daily activities, had more supportive relationships, had a better sense of direction in life, and more often accomplished their goals. Interpretations and future directions are discussed.