Hope In-depth Interview Guide for Young Women
Section 1 – Definitions and meanings of hope
Interviewer script: The main goal of this interview is to learn more about what hope means to you. We are really interested in hearing your ideas and thoughts. Like the consent form said, please remember that your answers are confidential and that we can switch off the tape recording at any time. We can skip any questions that make you feel uncomfortable. If you would like to stop the interview, there are no consequences to ending the interview at any time. We are not
collecting any personal identifiable information in this interview. Do you have any other questions before we start? [Wait for response; answer any questions as is appropriate]. I would like to begin the interview by talking about what hope means to you, and as we continue through the interview, we will use your definition of hope throughout.
When you hear the word ‘hope’, what do you think about?
Probes: What is your definition of hope? What are other words associated with hope? Are there slang words or phrases that mean hope? What does hopelessness mean? How do your thoughts about hope compare to your thoughts about hopelessness? How do you think your friends and others at school think about and talk about hope? How are your ideas about hope similar/different to other people your age?
Using your ideas of what hope is, can you tell me about a time when you felt hopeful?
Probes: Thinking back to a time when you felt very hopeful, describe the experience? How did you feel? How did you become hopeful? Were others involved in helping you feel a sense of hope; and if so, who were they and what role did they play? What else helped you to feel hopeful? What were the things that made it easy to feel hopeful? What happened as a result of feeling hopeful?
Using your ideas of what hope is, can you tell me about a time when you were not feeling hopeful?
Probes: You mention that hope means (insert her definition of hope); now think of a time when you did not have hope. Please describe this experience when you did not have (much) hope. How did you feel? What happened to make you feel hopeless? What role did other people play in helping you feel hopeless? Can you tell me about anything that you might have done to try to change the situation? What else led you to feel hopeless in this situation? What made it difficult to feel hopeful? What happened as a result of feeling hopeless?
What are the things that help make you feel more hopeful? What makes you feel less hopeful? Probes: How do the things you mention make you feel more/less hopeful? Overall, would you
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to others, would you describe yourself as more or less hopeful as others? You said you were more [hopeful/hopeless], tell me more about your reasons for thinking that? You may not always feel hopeful/hopeless; when you feel the other way, how does that affect how you think about what you can do or achieve in your future? When you are feeling
hopeful/hopeless, how does that affect how far you think about yourself into the future? Section 2 – Determining the influence of hope on expectations for the future and achievement
Interview script: Now I would like to ask more about your hopes and goals for the future, and how you think about achieving them.
What are the things in your life that are important to you? How do you intend to achieve them? Probes: You mentioned (repeat some of the things she listed); are there other things (e.g., school, family, community, love, relationships, health, job/money/career) that are important to you? What are the reasons that these things are important to you? What are your goals for achieving them? What are you currently doing to work toward getting the things that are important to you? What are you planning on doing to work toward the things that are important to you? How does your hope affect what is important to you?
What do you expect your life to look in X years (X=number of years that it will take participant to graduate from high school. If the participant is at the beginning of 9th grade, X would be 4)? Probes: Can you share with me some of the things you expect to achieve in X years? Tell me more about what you hope you will be doing with your life – e.g., where and what you will be studying/working/living. What kinds of things/activities should happen between now and then to help your life look like you described? What are you doing right now to work toward what you would like to achieve? What else will you need to do between now and then to have your life be like you described? What are events/activities that you can be doing to help you make sure your life will be like you expect?
Take a moment to think about what your life could look like in X years if everything went wrong and you had no hope. What would your worse-case scenario life look like?
Probes: How would this worst-case scenario life in X years be similar/different than the life you expect? What would have to happen between now and then to make this future come true? Consider the things you mentioned that are important to you (list some of the things she previously mentioned); what would happen to them in this future? What are you doing now to make sure this future does not happen? What will you need to be doing between now and then to make sure that this does not happen? How likely do you think your life will look like this? If you had more hope, how would it affect the possibility of achieving this future? Now imagine that your life in X years is everything that you could imagine; that it was perfect and you were very hopeful. What could your best-case scenario life look like?
Probes: How would this best-case scenario life be similar/different to the life you expect in X years? What would have to happen between now and then to make this future come true?
Consider the things you mentioned that are important to you (list some of the things she previously mentioned); what would happen to them in this future? What would you have to do to make this future happen? What role would others (e.g., family, friends, peers, teachers, etc.) play to make this happen? What else would have to happen that would make this best- case scenario come true? What are you doing now to help make this future happen? What will you need to be doing between now and then to make sure that this does not happen? How likely do you think your life will look like this? If you had less hope, how would it affect the possibility of achieving this future?
Section 3: Associating hope with HIV risk behavior
Interviewer script: Thank you for sharing with me your ideas about what your future could look like. For the final part of the interview, I would like to learn about how your thoughts about hope inform how you think about HIV risk behavior.
How do your ideas about hope affect your thoughts on HIV risk?
Probes: Please tell me about your concerns for getting HIV? What are the things that make you more/less likely to get HIV? (If she doesn’t mention it, probe on unprotected sex, older boyfriends, family, education, support, etc.) How do you think your concern about (list the HIV risks she just mentioned) would be changed if you had more/less hope? You mentioned some things that were important to you, like (remind her of the things she previously mentioned); how does wanting to achieve those important things affect your concerns about HIV? How are your thoughts about your future affected by HIV?
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