The Effects of Group Hope Therapy on Depression, Hopelessness and Hope of Female Students in Isfahan University

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of group hope therapy on depression, hopelessness and hope of female students in Isfahan University. 26 female students who had referred to the counseling center of Isfahan University and had been diagnosed with depression were invited to participate in this study. Participants were assigned to the control and experimental groups, randomly. Hope, depression and hopelessness were measured by Snyder’s Hope Scale, Beck’s depression Inventory and, Beck’s hopelessness scale. It was hypothesized that hope therapy can decrease depression and hopelessness and increase hope and its components in the experimental group. The results of analysis of covariance showed that, after 8 session of group hope therapy, depression was significantly lower (p < .01) and hope was significantly higher (p < .05) in the experimental group than the control group. The follow-up data showed that these effects have remained for one month (p < .05). The results also showed that hope therapy didn’t reduce hopelessness, and its effects on agency thinking did not continue for one month. It was concluded that as a useful method of intervention, hope therapy can be applied to clients with depression.