Hope and Health

This chapter discusses the research on hope and health. Snyder’s hope theory is the dominant hope theory studied concerning health indices. Subsequently, Snyder’s hope theory and measurement of hope are outlined in this chapter. Increases in hope are associated with health-promoting behaviors, including increased health literacy and problem-solving skills. Higher levels of hope are associated with adaptive general physical health outcomes, such as better physical functioning and quality of life. In specific physical health outcomes, such as cancer, cardiovascular issues, chronic pain, and spinal cord injury, hope is associated with benefits such as lower psychological distress, lower symptom severity, and more post-traumatic growth. Hope is also directly and indirectly associated with various mental health outcomes. Higher hope is associated with lower perceived stress, anxiety, depression, PTSD, and other mental illnesses. Greater hope is also associated with better subjective, psychological, and social well-being. These relationships between hope and health have been found in various groups, including student, community, and clinical samples of children, adolescents, young adults, and older adults. Although the benefits of hope have been seen empirically across various genders, races, and ethnicities, the existing explicit empirical literature on hope and health in diverse samples is limited. Future research must evaluate whether hope has the same meaning, relevance, and benefits to various health domains across people of different demographic backgrounds.