The Beck Hopelessness Scale was administered to 108 adolescent inpatients diagnosed with mixed psychiatric disorders. Moderate to severe pessimism about the future was described by 42.6% of the sample. A principal components analysis of the correlations among the scale’s 20 items was conducted & 3 components reflecting rejection of the possibility of a hopeful future, acceptance of the inevitability of a hopeless future, & resignation to the futility of changing the future were identified.