Psychology Research and Behavior Management (Oct 2018)
Validation study of a scale for assessing three personality functional dimensions among Venezuelan HIV-positive patients
Abstract
José Moral de la Rubia,1 Gerymar Pastora Colombo Andrade,2 Arelys Carolina Torres Yépez,2 Víctor Manuel López Guerra,3 Julio Alfonso Piña López,4 José Luis Ybarra Sagarduy5 1Faculty of Psychology, Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico; 2Department of Psychology, West-Central University “Lisandro Alvarado”, Barquisimeto, Lara, Venezuela; 3Department of Psychology, Private Technical University of Loja, San Cayetano, Loja, Ecuador; 4Independent Researcher, Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico; 5Unit of Social Work and Sciences for Human Development, Autonomous University of Tamaulipas, Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, Mexico Background: Personality has been recognized as a key variable in the prediction of treatment adherence and health care behaviors in patients living with chronic diseases. Purpose: In order to contribute to the prediction of treatment-adherence behaviors among HIV-positive patients, this study aimed to test the metric properties of the 12-item Stress-Related Situations Scale (SRSS-12), which assesses four interactive styles of personality related to stressful situations when receiving treatment for a chronic disease. Patients and methods: This cross-sectional study was performed with a nonprobability sampling between May and June 2016. The SRSS-12 was fulfilled by 186 out of 400 HIV-positive patients receiving attention through the regional program for HIV -sexually transmitted diseases control in the State of Lara, Venezuela (sample proportion =0.465). The participants were young adults (X=34.9 years), predominantly men (80.1%), and single (76.3%). Data analysis included exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis, assessment of internal consistency, and description of distributions. Results: The exploratory factor analysis yielded a three-factor structure: Tolerance to Frustration and Ambiguity, Follow-up of Instructions and Impulsivity, and Decision Making. Through confirmatory factor analysis, this model showed an acceptable fit to the data. The three factors showed convergent and discriminant validity and internal consistency from acceptable to high. The factor scores did not follow a normal distribution. Conclusions: The three-factor model for the SRSS-12 showed validity and internal consistency among Venezuelan HIV-positive patients. Scaled scores for factors can be developed using percentile scores. Keywords: tolerance to frustration, tolerance to ambiguity, impulsivity, interactive style of personality, stress
