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

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 (χ² = 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.