This study investigated the factorial structure and the psychometric properties of The Social Support Scale for People with HIV/Aids based on items from a canadian scale for evaluation of the social support for people living with HIV/aids, on initiatives of brazilian researchers and on the revision of the literature about the social support construct. The validation sample was composed of 241 HIV positive individuals (66.8% males), with ages between 20 and 64 years old (M =37.4 years). The exploratory factorial analysis using the principal axis extraction method and oblique rotation revealed two first order factors: emotional social support (12 items, alpha=0.92) and instrumental social support (12 items, alpha=0.84). A second order factor was also identified with all 24 original items, with good psychometric indicators (alpha=0.87). The factorial structure found corresponded to what is expected from an instrument aimed at measuring the major social support dimensions of people who are HIV positive.
social support; factorial analysis; HIV
