The psychometric characteristics of the Hopelessness Scale for Children (HSC) was examined for children and adolescents with mental retardation or a learning disability. Scores from 261 students with cognitive disabilities were analyzed to determine the factor structure and internal stability of scores on the scale with this population. Locus of control and achievement attribution scores were correlated with HSC scores to examine construct validity. The factor structure of the scale was almost identical to the original structure, and the scale scores were shown to have adequate construct validity. Internal stability was, however, slightly lower for students with cognitive disabilities.
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