Assessing Perceived Social Support Among African American College Students with Disabilities: A Confirmatory Factor Analysis

A college education can help pave the way for a meaningful and rewarding career. However, college students with disabilities, especially students from ethnic and minority backgrounds, face many challenges as they transition from high school to college. Research has demonstrated the importance of social support from family members, friends, and significant others on college life adjustment of minority students with disabilities. The purpose of this study was to validate the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) for use with African American college students with disabilities. The confirmatory factor analysis was conducted with 220 African American college students with disabilities. The results indicated that the three-factor measurement structure of the MSPSS fits the data relatively well: : chi(2) (51, N = 202) = 151.59, p < .001; chi(2)/df = 2.97 (< 3), CFI = .96 (> .95), TLI = .95 (>= .95), RMSEA = 0.099 (> 0.080), and SRMR = .04 (< .08). The three factors include perceived social support from (a) family, (b) friends, and (c) significant others. The results of the correlational analysis found significant relationships among these subscales as well as related constructs including goal persistence and college adjustment problems in expected directions providing initial support for the construct validity of the MSPSS. Assessing the levels of perceived social support received by African American students with disabilities can provide valuable information for disability service personnel to tailor their services to help these students develop social skills, social support, and social capital that are critical to college life adjustment and goal persistence.