Social Support in Higher Education: Evidence of Validity and Reliability in the Peruvian Context

Abstract

Social support is a useful cornerstone concept that describes how positive human relationships and social networks allow people to overcome stressful events they face during their lives and to find themselves in a state of relative well-being. This study aims to assess the psychometric properties of the Social Support Appraisals Scale (SS-A) in a Peruvian sample. Participants were 417 undergraduate’s students in Metropolitan Lima (Mage = 21.78, SD = 4.09). Cross-sectional data was collected after approval by the ethical committee and authorization of all parties involved. A theoretical three-factor model was tested using confirmatory factor analysis. Results showed good fit indexes and revealed that the SS-A’s three-dimensional structure was invariant across gender and presented adequate reliability. Likewise, social support showed significant correlations to academic stress. Although the results’ generalizability due to the non-random nature of the data presents a caveat, the current findings reveal preliminary evidence that the adapted version of the Social Support Appraisals Scale is a reliable and valid instrument for the assessment of perceived social support in this sample of Peruvian college students.