A qualitative study of university students' perspectives of hope during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Students in higher education commonly experience mental health problems. There is an ongoing need to explore potential intervention targets to focus on mental health promotion among students. Hopefulness may alleviate or be protective against various negative mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, suicide, and trauma-related disorders. Objective: To explore postsecondary students' meanings and experiences of hope during the COVID-19 pandemic and identify factors affecting hopefulness during crises. Methods: Purposive sampling was used to recruit participants for online semi-structured interviews in a university located in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: In total, 12 participants were interviewed, and 4 themes were generated: (1) hope is a complex concept with an associated set of behaviors, (2) cognitive framing of hope as a means of student resilience, (3) COVID-19 as an antagonist which amplifies preexisting student concerns and issues, and (4) the social and physical environments serve as barriers and enablers to hope and well-being. Hope was perceived as a positive mental trait, external events and the environment were reported to impact hope, and those who were generally more hopeful adjusted better mentally when unexpected circumstances arose. Conclusions: Findings shed light on the interconnectedness and complex nature of hope, its sources, and enablers. Novel findings include the ways in which hope was affected during the COVID-19 pandemic. Recommendations for individual- and community-based interventions include targeting enablers to hopefulness by promoting social support systems, offering virtual extracurricular activities, and delivering alternative approaches to teaching and learning.

Risk and protective factors associated with hopelessness among Canadian postsecondary students.

Hopelessness has been linked to several negative mental health outcomes among young adults and the prevalence of it has increased in recent years. The aim was to identify factors associated with hopelessness among Canadian postsecondary students using a socioecological model as a framework. A set of factors for investigation were identified using previously published literature and proxy questions from the American College Health Association's National College Health Assessment II (n = 48,584). A multivariable logistic regression model was fitted to examine these potential associations. Overall, modifiable factors such as belonging to a community, general health, academic performance, and life stressors were found to be associated with hopelessness. In contrast, hopelessness was also associated with some negative health outcomes: loneliness, depression, and suicide ideation. The findings provide preliminary evidence for integrating hope into well-being programming and campus-based interventions aimed at improving postsecondary student mental health. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11469-023-01050-w.