Posttraumatic growth inventory: factor structure in Spanish-speaking people living with HIV

ABSTRACT

This cross-sectional study analyzed the factorial structure of the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) in a sample of 304 Spanish-speaking HIV-positive adults. Participants completed the PTGI and a socio-demographic questionnaire. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was carried out through structural equations modeling, with a Varimax rotation. Factors with eigenvalues greater than 1 were extracted, and items with loadings higher than .5 on a factor and lower than .4 on the rest were retained. Two confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) were performed to test a hierarchical model and a bifactor model. Reliability analyses were conducted. EFA suggested a three-factor model keeping 11 of the original 21 items. The three factors that emerged were changes in philosophy of life, in the self and in interpersonal relationships. CFAs suggested that only the bifactor model fitted the data. The three factors as well as the global scale showed good reliability. The factor structure of PTGI’s scores in our data is consistent with the three dimensions theorized by Tedeschi and Calhoun, which speaks in favor of the construct validity of this measure.

KEYWORDS:

• Posttraumatic growth inventory
• factor structure
• structural validity
• HIV
• Spanish

Acknowledgements

The authors have no conflict of interest to disclose. They would like to acknowledge the HIV associations in Spain and Latin America and the healthcare providers at Centro Sandoval, in Madrid, whose help was fundamental for the data collection. The first author would like to acknowledge the financial support given by the Spanish Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte through a FPU fellowship.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Helena Garrido-Hernansaiz http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8715-0842

Rocío Rodríguez-Rey http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8006-5012

Jesús Alonso-Tapia http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6544-0224