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PubMed1999

[Concept analysis of reflective thinking].

The nursing practice is described as a scientific practice, but also as a practice where caring is important. The purpose of nursing education is to provide competent nursing practitioners. This implies that future practitioners must have both critical analytical thinking abilities, as well as empathy and moral values. Reflective thinking could probably accommodate these thinking skills. It seems that the facilitation of reflective thinking skills is essential in nursing education. The research question that is relevant in this context is: "What is reflective thinking?" The purpose of this article is to report on the concept analysis of reflective thinking and in particular on the connotative meaning (critical attributes) thereof. The method used to perform the concept analysis is based on the original method of Wilson (1987) as described by Walker & Avant (1995). As part of the concept analysis the connotations (critical attributes) are identified, reduced and organized into three categories, namely pre-requisites, processes and outcomes. A model case is described which confirms the essential critical attributes of reflective thinking. Finally a theoretical definition of reflective thinking is derived and reads as follows: Reflective thinking is a cyclic, hierarchical and interactive construction process. It is initiated, extended and continued because of personal cognitive-affective interaction (individual dimension) as well as interaction with the social environment (social dimension). to realize reflective thinking, a level of internalization on the cognitive and affective domain is required. The result of reflective thinking is a integrated framework of knowledge (meaningful learning) and a internalized value system providing a new perspective on and better understanding of a problem. Reflective thinking further leads to more effective decision making- and problem solving skills.

Decision Making↗

PubMed1999

["Thinking styles" category in the study of the history of medical ideas].

The author substantiates the thesis that the "thinking style" category reveals-when applied to reflection on the history of medicine-its predominance over other categories covered by the study of the progress of human knowledge, including also the paradigm category. The said predominance lies mainly in synchronic explanation of both the justifying and revealing contents through the "thinking styles" category (using the traditional terminology of the philosophy of knowledge). It becomes also possible to study the aspects not only of "oriented perception" but also "models of culture" as the factors that support one another in the process of elucidating the genesis and evolution of medical ideas. Thus, "thinking styles" cover with its explanatory range a wide field of research, not confined to explaining only one concrete fact or even a unique scientific discovery, but also applied to the system of links between various and even-on the face of it-very remote thinking patterns. The "thinking styles" category opens a perspective and necessity for search in the area of the history of medical thought on a considerably larger scale than in the case of classical, positivistic depictions of the history of medicine. In the opinion of the author, the questions about numerous relations and correlation of the studied discovery with the surrounding social and cultural time and space are unavoidable. When applying the "thinking styles" category, which should provide answers to such questions, it is not possible to escape the need for the studying of an interference network, horizontally and vertically. This calls for interdisciplinary studies that employ philosophical, historical and medical, social and psychological knowledge, which is a strong basis for continuous cooperation between these lines of knowledge to capture and understand the sense of the past. The author exemplifies his views. A long-term process of the migrating of the "microscopic" vision of the world, including the image of a human body, to the "nucleus" (center) that generates pattern thinking in 17th and 18th centuries led to the emergence of historical style of thinking by the end of 18th and in 19th centuries. The aforementioned migration was in all likelihood affected by a tendency encountered in all cultures during the Enlightenment to the rationalistic, materialistic and strictly scientific perception of reality. Here, the "patterns of culture" also play a significant role as elements that have an impact on the creation of thinking styles. Cultural transformations could exert an influence on the emergence of certain medical specialties such as pediatrics. An analysis of the Renaissance views on "eye"-related diseases displays a slow, creeping migration of thinking characteristics from the space of humoral thinking style to the modern thinking areas. Such spreading of beliefs that support the thesis of the continual nature of scientific change in medicine is also visible in the medicine of the 17th century.

Historiography↗

PubMed1998

Facilitating the process of critical thinking for nursing.

An exploratory study was conducted during 1995 to examine the degree to which critical thinking was encouraged in nursing education throughout New South Wales (NSW), Australia. The study identified whether a sample of graduate nurses and nurse educators at 12 faculties of nursing in NSW shared similar ideas about what critical thinking entails, the best ways in which to develop critical thinking processes and whether critical thinking is a reasonable way for nurses to achieve skilled and effective nursing interventions. The findings indicate that both nursing students and nurse educators favour the facilitation of critical thinking for nursing for very practical reasons. These refer to improving professional standards of practice, stimulating inquiry and promoting sound reasoning in practice, as well as contributing to personal and professional development. Study participants were found to favour a variety of teaching and learning strategies for critical thinking, and this finding is the focus for this discussion paper. The majority of participants stated that nurses would perhaps be better able to abstract principles of thinking from the specific contexts in which they are practised. Strategies found effective for nursing practice included a variety of approaches: direct learning of skills that contribute to critical thinking, such as analysis; infusion, or integration of critical thinking in all areas of learning; and learning to think critically within distinct disciplines of thought. Analysis of the findings, therefore, suggests that critical thinking is thought to be an important component of nursing practice and that in nursing it is a complex activity, requiring a combination of dispositions, abilities and approaches that can be developed by drawing on a range of learning strategies.

Clinical Competence↗

PubMed2000

Exploring reflective thinking in nursing practice.

While it is claimed in the nursing literature that reflective thinking is the approach par excellence for learning and advancing the art and practice of nursing, few empirical studies have been undertaken in this area to date. Sense-Making, a qualitative research method, was utilized to obtain and analyse data from interviews with 10 registered nurses in order to study reflective thinking in actual nursing practice. Ten non-routine nursing situations were analysed for the presence of reflective thinking. Time-line interviews of the events resulted in a total of 59 micro-moments, each of which was explored in terms of the thinking processes utilized to make sense of the situation as well as the focus of their thought. 'Pre-perceptions' played an important part in how the respondents perceived their situation. Reflective thinking was extensively manifest, especially in moments of doubt and perplexity, and consisted of such cognitive activities as comparing and contrasting phenomena, recognizing patterns, categorizing perceptions, framing, and self-questioning in order to create meaning and understanding. Self-questioning was identified as a significant process within reflective thinking. By exploring and analysing the type of questions respondents were asking themselves, the study uncovered three hierarchical levels of reflective thinking. Respondents most often engaged in reflective thinking-for-action which centred on the here and now in order to act. Reflective thinking-for-evaluation focused on creating wholeness and contributed to the realization of multiple perceptions and multiple responses. Reflective thinking-for-critical-inquiry could not be demonstrated in the study sample. The findings of this study resulted in the development of a model of reflective thinking, which is discussed in terms of the implications for learning in nursing practice.

Decision Making↗

PubMed2003

Valuing both critical and creative thinking in clinical practice: narrowing the research-practice gap?

BACKGROUND: Nurturing critical thinking skills in the classroom is considered an important educational activity. It is believed that critical thinking skills are transferable and that they can be applied in practice when appraising, evaluating and implementing research. That more nurses than ever before have been judged academically knowledgeable in research has not guaranteed the transfer of such knowledge to practice. AIM OF THE PAPER: This paper discusses some of the reasons for the failure to narrow the gap between research and practice. In particular we argue that, if nurses are encouraged to develop creative and generative thinking alongside their critical thinking skills, then the art of nursing will have fuller representation in education, research and practice. DISCUSSION: The successful development of critical thinking skills for academic purposes does not necessarily mean that these skills are used in practice in relation either to research or clinical decision-making. This suggests that the transferability of critical thinking skills is less than straightforward. Indeed, there has been little narrowing of the research-practice gap since students started to learn critical thinking for academic purposes. However, we propose that thinking skills can be encouraged in the context of practice and that regular educational events, such as journal clubs, can contribute to developing critical thinking in the practice environment. CONCLUSIONS: The research-practice gap will reduce only if research becomes part of practitioners' ideology, which includes the art and science of nursing. Critical and creative thinking are prerequisites to narrowing the disjuncture between research and practice, and we suggest that educators and practitioners explore structured ways of meeting together to appraise literature as a possible means of making use of their thinking and knowledge in clinical practice.

Clinical Competence↗

PubMed1998

Recovery of positive future thinking within a high-risk parasuicide group: results from a pilot randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVES: The research examined: (i) whether high risk parasuicide patients showed a deficit in positive future thinking but no increase in negative future thinking; and (ii) whether such a deficit could be remedied by a brief, manual-assisted psychological intervention (manual assisted cognitive-behaviour therapy; MACT). DESIGN: A cross-sectional, mixed model design was used to assess differences between a sample of high risk parasuicide patients and matched controls on future thinking. A longitudinal mixed model design was used to assess changes in future thinking in the different groups over time. METHODS: Parasuicide patients with a history of previous suicidal behaviour and personality disturbance were compared with a matched group of community controls on an adapted fluency measure of future thinking, which measured both quantitative and qualitative aspects of anticipated experiences. Patients were then randomly allocated to either the specific intervention (MACT) or treatment as usual (TAU) and assessed again at 6 month follow-up. RESULTS: Parasuicide patients showed reduced positive future thinking but no increased negative future thinking. Patients who received MACT showed a significant improvement in positive future thinking over the follow-up period whereas the TAU group showed no such improvement. However, interpretation of this finding was made more difficult by the control group also showing a significant improvement in positive future thinking. CONCLUSION: The results confirm that parasuicide patients exhibit a relative deficit in positive future thinking and suggest that this lack of positive future thinking may be remedied, at least partly, by a brief intervention.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2004

Reflective thinking in clinical nursing education: a concept analysis.

Over decades nursing had an interest in clarifying and developing its knowledge base and its conceptual foundation. Reflective thinking has become a popular word in nursing education world wide, but its meaning and effective use remains debatable because of lack of clarity in its meaning (Mackintosh, 1998:553). The researcher engaged in the concept analysis of reflective thinking so as to fully understand its meaning and interpretation, hence the research question to be addressed by this article is: "What is the meaning of reflective thinking in clinical nursing education?" This article seeks to explore and describe the conceptual meaning of reflective thinking in clinical nursing education using the method of concept analysis as outlined by Wilson (1963:23-39) and Gift (1997:75,76). Concept analysis of reflective thinking constitutes the first phase of a study to develop a model to facilitate reflective thinking in clinical nursing education, thus ensuring theoretical validity of the model. An extensive examination of domain specific and various disciplines' literature was explored as part of the concept analysis. A selection of information regarding variations and similarities in the use and interpretation of reflective thinking across clinical nursing education was drawn from computerised data bases. This increased the rigor and the findings of the analysis. Through deductive reasoning and drawing of inferences, attributes were clustered in an attempt to identify the apparent essence of the concept. Three categories and the related connotations emerged as follows: Antecedents (Cognitive and affective thinking skills). Process (The three phases of reflective thinking). Outcome ( New insight and changed perspective). Reflective thinking was considered from the result of concept analysis as a cyclic, interactive constructing mental process to improve practice in a specific context. It is recommended that a model to facilitate reflective thinking in clinical nursing education be developed based on the results of this concept analysis.

Cognition↗

PubMed2002

Critical-Thinking Predisposition Among Undergraduate Athletic Training Students.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the tendency of undergraduate athletic training students to think critically, to assess their likelihood of using specific components of critical thinking, and to study the effect of selected demographic and educational variables on critical-thinking tendencies in this sample of students. DESIGN AND SETTING: Data were collected before regularly scheduled athletic training classes at the beginning of the spring semester. SUBJECTS: Ninety-one students enrolled in 3 Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs-accredited undergraduate athletic training education programs in the southeast. The subjects ranged in age from 19 to 29 years (mean age = 22.33 +/- 1.94). Forty-six (50.5%) of the subjects were men and 45 (49.5%) were women. MEASUREMENTS: The California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory contains 75 Likert-type items assessing 7 components of critical thinking: truth seeking, open mindedness, analyticity, systematicity, inquisitiveness, cognitive maturity, and critical-thinking self-confidence. RESULTS: The overall mean indicated a general but mild trend toward critical thinking, with weak scores on the truth-seeking subscale. One-way analysis of variance reflected significant differences among the schools for truth seeking, open mindedness, and maturity subscales and for the overall mean score for the entire inventory. Only the open-mindedness difference persisted between 2 of the schools after post hoc testing. Correlation analyses indicated no significant relationship between total score and age, sex, ethnicity, year in athletic training program, cumulative grade point average, completed semester hours, or clinical-experience hours. CONCLUSIONS: Athletic training students are inclined toward critical thinking, but this tendency is relatively weak. Classroom and clinical instructors should use teaching methods and techniques that facilitate the components of critical thinking. The promotion of critical thinking and critical-thinking skills has implications for athletic training education and the advancement of certified athletic trainers and the profession of athletic training.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2001

The development of an alternative method in the assessment of critical thinking as an outcome of nursing education.

RATIONALE: Critical thinking is currently a highly valued educational outcome throughout the educational spectrum, but particularly so in relation to higher and professional education. Nursing education worldwide is also embracing the construct critical thinking as a desirable educational outcome, to the extent that some commentators refer to the importance of critical thinking in nursing as a given. The body of evidence relating to the impact that nursing education has upon the development of critical thinking is currently inconclusive. Many commentators claim that this may be because the instruments used in many studies are not sufficiently domain-specific. STUDY AIMS: The primary purpose of this descriptive-illuminative study was to explore and develop an alternative domain-specific method for identifying critical thinking in student nurses' reasoning processes. DESIGN: A longitudinal multimethod design incorporating across-method triangulation has been utilized for this purpose. Data collection from a group of student nurses involved the combination of the Watson and Glaser (1991) critical thinking appraisal test and a researcher developed think aloud technique incorporating a videotaped client simulation, a cognitive task and stimulated recall strategy. FINDINGS: Findings indicate no significant differences in pre and postprogramme Watson-Glaser mean scores. With regard to the think aloud evidence the sample consistently displayed evidence of reasoning that reflected an absolutist epistemology portraying limited evidence of critical thinking. In instances where more complex reasoning was demonstrated there was evidence to suggest that metacognitive strategies may contribute to this phenomenon. CONCLUSIONS: The findings make a further contribution to the assessment of critical thinking and raise interesting challenges to future curriculum development in nursing education, assessment of learning and nursing practice.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2002

Critical thinking in nursing education: literature review.

The need for critical thinking in nursing has been accentuated in response to the rapidly changing health-care environment. Nurses must think critically to provide effective care while coping with the expansion in role associated with the complexities of current health-care systems. This literature review will present a history of inquiry into critical thinking and research to support the conclusion that critical thinking is necessary not only in the clinical practice setting, but also as an integral component of nursing-education programmes to promote the development of nurses' critical-thinking abilities. The aims of this paper are to: (i) review the literature on critical thinking; (ii) examine the dimensions of critical thinking; (iii) investigate the various critical thinking strategies for their appropriateness to enhance critical thinking in nurses; and (iv) examine issues relating to the evaluation of critical-thinking skills in nursing.

Education, Nursing↗

PubMed2003

Hopelessness and future thinking in parasuicide: the role of perfectionism.

OBJECTIVES: This study had three aims: (1) to independently replicate the future thinking effect, that parasuicides, when compared with controls, show a deficit in positive future thinking but no increase in negative future thinking; (2) to determine whether positive future thinking and socially prescribed perfectionism discriminate general hospital parasuicides from controls beyond measures of affect and; (3) to explore the relationship between future thinking and perfectionism. DESIGN: A cross-sectional design was employed. Three groups of participants took part: hospital parasuicide patients (N=22), hospital controls (N=22) and community controls (N=21). METHODS: Parasuicide patients admitted, via accident and emergency, to a general hospital were matched with hospital and community controls and assessed on measures of hopelessness, depression, anxiety, perfectionism, and future thinking. RESULTS: There was evidence to support the future thinking effect. A discriminant function analysis revealed that social perfectionism and positive future thinking did indeed discriminate parasuicides from controls beyond the effects of hopelessness, depression, and anxiety. Exploratory relationships between perfectionism and positive future thinking were also reported. CONCLUSIONS: The results reinforce the importance of future thinking in parasuicide. Moreover, the role of social perfectionism in the suicidal process was elucidated and ought to be replicated within a prospective design.

Adult↗

PubMed1997

Evaluating critical thinking skills of baccalaureate nursing students.

This study evaluates the critical thinking skills of students enrolled in a baccalaureate nursing program, using the WGCTA, for the classes of 1993 through 1996. Scores were obtained at entry and at end of junior and senior years. The mean entry WGCTA score was 56 for all four classes; however, the 1995 and 1996 classes had significantly higher scores than the class of 1994. Critical thinking scores were higher at entry for older students and students who had completed another education degree; however, critical thinking scores were lower for students who had previous nursing experience. After adapting for age, previous degree, and nursing experience, no significant differences in the WGCTA scores from entry to end of junior and senior years emerged for the classes of 1993, 1994, 1995. Critical thinking skills have become the hallmark of education. The National Education Goal Panel has advocated for an increase in the ability to think critically, communicate effectively and solve problems (Banta, 1993). In turn, the nursing profession has incorporated these goals of higher education into its educational programs. The National League for Nursing (NLN) includes the measurement of critical thinking as a required outcome in the evaluation and accreditation of baccalaureate and higher degree programs in nursing. This critical thinking outcome must reflect the student's skill in analysis, reasoning, research, or decision making as these skills relate to the nursing discipline (National League for Nursing, 1992). To meet the NLN's critical thinking outcome criterion, nursing programs must have a method of evaluating this skill. Many programs use the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA), which is a standardized instrument. The College of Nursing at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) adopted this instrument to evaluate the critical thinking skills of students in the baccalaureate nursing program.

Adult↗

PubMed2006

Critical thinking dispositions and skills of senior nursing students in associate, baccalaureate, and RN-to-BSN programs.

This study investigated the critical thinking dispositions and skills of senior nursing students. Study participants were students enrolled in associate (n = 137), baccalaureate (n = 102), and RN-to-BSN (n = 66) programs accredited by the Korean Ministry of Education. The California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI) and California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST) were used. A comparison of the CCTDI scores revealed a statistically significant difference between the students enrolled in different programs (F = 4.159, p = 0.017), as did a comparison of the CCTST scores (F = 24.205, p < 0.0001). Within the total sample (n = 305), the relationship between CCTDI and CCTST scores was significant (r = 0.305, p = 0.000). Developments in medical technology, the growing number of older adults and patients with chronic illnesses, and the demand for high-quality nursing care have led to various, increasingly complex, professional, legal, and educational issues within the nursing workplace. Therefore, nurses need creativity and critical thinking skills to make the decisions required of them in their nursing practice. In line with this, when conducting a survey of the effectiveness of nursing education, the necessity of critical thinking skills cannot be overlooked. In fact, the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC) (1999) and American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) (1998) require the concept of critical thinking be included as one of the core elements of curricula and that it be measured as an outcome when evaluating nursing education. In 1998, during the evaluation of colleges of nursing conducted by the South Korean Council for University Education, several universities presented the fostering of critical thinking as one of the terminal learning goals of nursing education based on the idea that critical thinking is important not only in the nursing workplace, but also in nursing education. To evaluate the effectiveness of Korea's current nursing education curriculum, focus was placed on current students in South Korea's three systems of nursing education. Each curriculum's effectiveness can be evaluated by indexing critical thinking dispositions and skills. This article intends to offer insight into the first steps necessary in reorganizing nursing education by comparing these evaluations of each of the three systems. To this end, we conducted a comparative study of the critical thinking dispositions and skills of students in 3-year associate degree (ADN), 4-year baccalaureate (BSN), and 5-year RN-to-BSN programs. The RN-to-BSN program requires students to finish a separate 2-year program after the initial 3-year ADN program.

Analysis of Variance↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Assessing the critical thinking skills of faculty: What do the findings mean for nursing education?

The purpose of this study was twofold: to determine the critical thinking skills of nurse faculty and to examine the relationship between epistemological position and critical thinking. Most participants reported having no education on critical thinking. Data were collected using the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST) and the Learning Environment Preferences (LEP). Findings from the CCTST indicated that faculty varied considerably in their ability to think critically; LEP findings suggested that participants had not reached the intellectual level needed for critical thinking. In addition, 12 faculty participated in one-hour telephone interviews in which they described experiences in which students demonstrated critical thinking. Despite a lack of clarity on the definition of critical thinking, faculty described clinical examples where students engaged in analysis, inference, and evaluation. Based on these findings, it is recommended that faculty transfer their ability to engage students in critical thinking in the clinical setting to the classroom setting. Benchmarks can be established based on the ability of faculty to engage in critical thinking.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

PubMed2003

Critical thinking disposition of Hong Kong Chinese and Australian nursing students.

BACKGROUND: Critical thinking is frequently cited as a desirable professional attribute and a highly valued educational outcome. Despite the abundance of literature on the subject, validation of the critical thinking construct in different cultural populations is under-researched. AIM: The purpose of this study was to compare the critical thinking dispositions of Hong Kong Chinese and Australian nursing students. DESIGN: A cross-sectional design was used with two groups of nursing students in two universities, one in Hong Kong and the other in Australia. Critical thinking disposition was measured using the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI). RESULTS: Significant differences were detected in critical thinking disposition between the two groups of students (P < 0.05), with the Hong Kong Chinese students failing to show a positive disposition toward critical thinking on the CCTDI total mean score, while the Australian students showed a positive disposition. Similarities and differences were also noted between the groups in CCTDI subscale mean scores. CONCLUSION: The findings contribute to knowledge of critical thinking by demonstrating differences and similarities between Hong Kong Chinese and Australian nursing students. The study raises questions about the effects of institutional, educational, professional and cultural factors on the disposition to think critically.

Analysis of Variance↗

PubMed2006

Critical thinking dispositions in baccalaureate nursing students.

AIM: This paper reports an investigation into the critical thinking disposition of students enrolled in a baccalaureate nursing programme at a university in Korea. BACKGROUND: Critical thinking may be summarized as a skilled process that conceptualizes and applies information from observation, experience, reflection, inference and communication in a technical manner. It is more of a rational act used as an instrument rather than as a result. Critical thinking is a core competency in nursing and has been widely discussed in nursing education. However, the results of previous research on the effectiveness of nursing education in improving students' critical thinking have been inconsistent. METHODS: A longitudinal design was used with a convenience sample of 60 nursing students; 32 students participated four times in completing a questionnaire each March from 1999 to 2002. The California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory was administered to measure disposition to critical thinking. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant improvement in critical thinking disposition score by academic year (F = 7.54, P = 0.0001). Among the subscales, open-mindedness, self-confidence, and maturity also showed a statistically significant difference by academic year (P = 0.0194, 0.0041, 0.0044). CONCLUSION: Teaching strategies to enhance critical thinking should be developed, in addition to further research on the effect of the nursing curriculum on students' critical thinking. Moreover, survey instruments could be adjusted to incorporate characteristics of the Korean culture.

Clinical Competence↗

PubMed2004

Rumination and future thinking in depression.

OBJECTIVES: Future thinking is an important domain of cognitive functioning, with reduced ability to imagine positive future events associated with hopelessness in depression and parasuicide. Rumination has been shown to exacerbate negative cognitive biases in depression, and to reduce likelihood estimations for positive future events. We examine the hypothesis that, in depressed patients, rumination would reduce the ability to imagine positive future events, whilst increasing the ability to imagine negative future events. METHOD: The ability to imagine positive and negative future events was assessed using the future thinking paradigm (MacLeod, Rose, & Williams, 1993). Depressed and nondepressed participants completed the future thinking task after being randomly allocated to either a rumination or distraction manipulation (Nolen-Hoeksema & Morrow, 1993). Mood was measured before and after the manipulation. Participants also completed a standard verbal fluency task. RESULTS: In the depressed group, compared to distraction, rumination increased both negative and positive future thinking, although the effect was only significant for negative future thinking once baseline levels of hopelessness were controlled for. These findings are consistent with the prediction that rumination would increase negative future thinking, but inconsistent with the prediction that rumination would reduce positive future thinking. Previous findings that, compared to controls, depressed patients generated fewer positive future events were replicated. CONCLUSION: Ruminative self-focus leads to greater negative future thinking in depressed patients, further confirming that rumination exacerbates negative cognitive biases in depression. The relationship between rumination and positive future thinking was unexpected, but might potentially reflect a general priming of self-related information by rumination.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Hopelessness and positive and negative future thinking in parasuicide.

OBJECTIVES: Hopelessness about the future is a key element in suicidal behaviour. The aim of the present study was to examine possible components of hopelessness, in particular, to contrast positive and negative future thinking and to examine separately number, expectancy, and value of anticipated positive and negative future experiences. DESIGN: A correlational design. METHOD: Repeat parasuicide patients (N = 441) were administered the Beck Hopelessness Scale, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the future thinking task, a measure of future positive and negative thinking that assesses number, perceived likelihood, and perceived value of anticipated future positive and negative events. RESULTS: Consistent with predictions, hopelessness correlated more strongly with lack of positive thoughts about the future than it did with presence of negative thoughts. Both positive and negative future thinking showed a relationship to hopelessness over and above their relationships to depression (positive future thinking) and anxiety (negative future thinking). Number and likelihood of positive events and likelihood and value of negative events showed both simple and partial relationships to hopelessness. Number of negative events related to hopelessness but only after the other future thinking variables had been controlled for and value of positive events no longer related to hopelessness after controlling for the other variables. CONCLUSIONS: Hopelessness about the future in suicidal individuals is a multi-faceted construct but lack of positive future thinking is more important than presence of negative future thinking.

Adolescent↗