Perceived Community Support Questionnaire: evidence of factorial validity and internal consistency for the Brazilian context

Abstract

This work sought to adapt the Perceived Community Support Questionnaire (PCSQ) to the Brazilian context, gathering evidence of its factorial structure and internal consistency. Two studies were performed. The first comprised 119 individuals aged between 21 and 85 years (M = 41.59, SD = 15.33) with incomplete elementary education (52.1%). An exploratory factor analysis was conducted and indicated a three-factor structure, explaining 42.3% of the total variance. The second study comprised 203 participants aged between 19 and 84 years (M = 42.99, SD = 12.70) with higher education (17.2%). The three-factor structure was corroborated by a confirmatory factor analysis (CFI = 0.944, TLI = 0.931, RMSEA = 0.088, 90%CI: 0.072; 0.103), and Cronbach’s alpha was adequate. Questionnaire dimensions were named Community Integration, Community Participation, and Community Organizations. Despite the issues involving inverted items, the instrument gathered evidence of factorial validity and internal consistency, showing applicability to further studies.

Keywords

• Social Support
• Community Integration
• Validation Study