Development of a New Instrument for the Assessment of Psychological Predictors of Well-being and Quality of Life in People with HIV or AIDS

• Published in: AIDS and behavior Vol. 16; no. 8; pp. 2414 - 2423
• Main Authors: Remor, Eduardo, Fuster, Maria José, Ballester-Arnal, Rafael, Gómez-Martínez, Sandra, Fumaz, Carmina R., González-Garcia, Marian, Ubillos-Landa, Silvia, Aguirrezabal-Prado, Arrate, Molero, Fernando
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01.11.2012; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome; Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome - psychology; Activities of Daily Living; Adaptation, Psychological; Adjustment; AIDS; Cognition; Content analysis; Factor Analysis, Statistical; Female; Focus Groups; Health Psychology; HIV; HIV Infections - psychology; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Infectious Diseases; Literature reviews; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mental health; Morality; Original Paper; Personal Satisfaction; Psychological Factors; Psychological tests; Psychometrics - instrumentation; Psychometrics - methods; Public Health; Qualitative Research; Quality of Life; Reproducibility of Results; Sickness Impact Profile; Social Support; Socioeconomic Factors; Spain; Surveys and Questionnaires; Well Being; Spain; Well-being; HIV; VIH; Bienestar; Psychological predictors; Predictores psicológicos; Calidad de vida; Quality of life
• ISSN: 1090-7165; 1573-3254
• DOI: 10.1007/s10461-012-0230-1

This study aims to develop an instrument for the assessment of psychological predictors of well-being and quality of life (QoL) in people living with HIV. A four-step procedure was followed to achieve this objective. A literature review, focus group in different regions of Spain and content analysis generated a preliminary pool of 96 items. Interjudgement ratings over the items and a cognitive debriefing interview were performed to delete or review items (one omitted and 15 reviewed). The psychometric properties of the instrument were assessed in a sample of 84 HIV+. Pilot testing allowed a new wave of depuration process by empirical criteria (30 items omitted). A final pool of 63 items covering 23 facets (α from 0.53 to 0.95) of psychological predictors remained. Exploratory factorial analysis (GLS) assessing the underlying structure of the questionnaire showed a six-factor model explaining 56.5 of variance. Empirical exploratory structure revealed evidence of goodness of fit (χ 2  = 113.110, gl = 130, p  > 0.05; RMSEA = 0.017; RMSEA IC90 % 0.000–0.057). This study presents the first instrument able to screen key psychological variables expected to be related to adjustment, well-being and QoL in people with HIV.