The Hope and Goals of Youth Experiencing Homelessness

This study investigates the relationship between goal characteristics and hope in emerging adults experiencing homelessness. Employing Hope Theory as a framework, we surveyed 100 emerging adults experiencing homelessness, ages 18–29 ( M = 21.95), asking them to nominate three goals they were currently pursuing, rate those goals on personal importance, and complete measures of dispositional and goal-specific hope. Goals were coded for domains and characteristics. Goals most commonly fell into the domains of basic needs (64%), career (56%), and academics (27%). Multilevel modeling shows that one coded goal characteristic—difficulty—was associated with goal-specific hope. Additionally, self-rated goal importance was associated with greater goal-specific hope. Consistent with Hope Theory, individuals with higher dispositional hope had more goal-specific hope. These results contrast with research in college students, finding both that different goal domains predominated and different characteristics were associated with hope. This suggests that context matters when characterizing individuals’ goals and hope.