Psychological intervention needs: validation of a survey with Portuguese university students

Abstract

This work presents and discusses the psychometric characteristics of the Portuguese version of The Survey of Student Needs (SSN), a self-report questionnaire that assesses psychological intervention needs. A total of 659 university students participated, 76.5% women, with a mean age of 21.96 years. The results of Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) report a factorial solution of three factors explaining 38.49% of the variance. Considering the internal consistency of this factorial structure, Cronbach’s alpha values of .88 were found in factor 1, .81 in factor 2, and .84 in factor 3. The results of the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) suggest that the factorial solution proposed by the EFA presents better fit indices to the empirical data when compared to three alternative models (X2/df=3.096, CFI=.842, GFI=.851, RMSEA=.056, P[rmsea≤.05]<.000). In conclusion, this study indicates that the SSN is a valid and reliable instrument applicable to the research and intervention contexts of this field.

Keywords

• psychological needs
• needs assessment
• higher education
• psychometrics