NCJ Number
219536
Journal
Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity Volume: 14 Issue: 2 Dated: 2007 Pages: 119-129
Date Published
2007
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This article reports on the development and preliminary validation of the Sexual Symptom Assessment Scale (S-SAS).
Abstract
The S-SAS was developed as a 12-item, self-rated scale to measure symptoms of compulsive sexual behavior involving excessive sexual thoughts, sexual urges, or sexual activities that cause distress or impairment. The S-SAS was patterned after the Gambling Symptom Assessment Scale, which assesses the intensity of urges to engage in problematic gambling. Each item on the S-SAS is scored between 0 and 8, with higher scores indicating more severe symptoms. Validity testing revealed good test-retest reliability as well as good convergent and divergent validity. The S-SAS demonstrated a strong correlation with the Compulsive Sexual Behavior Inventory (CSBI) and with clinician ratings of compulsive sexual behavior symptoms. On the other hand, the S-SAS did not demonstrate a significant correlation with ratings on overall psychopathology. Future research on the validity and reliability of the S-SAS should focus on administering the S-SAS repeatedly during a treatment study. Participants were 35 men in group therapy for compulsive sexual behavior at a midwestern sexuality clinic and 8 clinicians familiar with the men and their symptoms. The clinicians completed the clinician-rating scales on their clients and the men completed both the S-SAS and the CSBI. The analysis focused on establishing the reliability and validity of the S-SAS. The validity was tested by examining: (1) agreement with other measures of compulsive sexual behavior and therapists ratings of clients’ symptoms, and (2) divergence from therapists’ ratings of clients’ severity of general psychopathology. Data were analyzed using SPSS and included the calculation of Pearson correlations and Crohnbach’s Alpha. References, appendix