HOPELESSNESS IN IV DRUG-USERS NOT IN TREATMENT AND SEEKING HIV TESTING AND COUNSELING

The Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS) was administered to 2379 intravenous drug users who were not in treatment, unaware of their human-immunode ficiency-virus (HIV) status and seeking HIV testing and counselling. T hree BHS principal components were identified reflecting resignation t o the futility of changing the future, rejection of the possibility of a hopeful future, and acceptance of the inevitability of a hopeless f uture. The principal component scores representing these three dimensi ons were positively related to self-reported depression and suicidal i deation; the rejection scores were positively correlated with confirme d HIV seropositivity.