ISSN: 2161-0487
Ruhaba Shahzad*
The present study aimed to explore the factors behind the level of hopelessness among students in Pakistan. It was hypothesized that skill acquisition affects the level of hopelessness among students going through an academic gap year. The participants of this study comprised 300 (m=44, f=256) aged 15-30 years from Karachi, Pakistan. They were approached through a purposive convenient sampling technique. Adult Hope Scale (AHS) was assessed on the participants to assess their level of hopelessness where the duration of gap years, type of gap years, number of skills, and type of skills were noticed through the demographic form. The statistical analysis showed a significant interaction effect between skill acquisition and hopelessness of the students going through gap year(s). Therefore, the results of the study put forth skill acquisition as the positive factor that can be used to reduce the level of hopelessness among gap year students.