TRYING TO PRACTICE SAFER SEX - DEVELOPMENT OF THE SEXUAL RISKS SCALE

Psychometric techniques were used for the development of a theoretical ly-based measure of constructs related to safer sexual activity. A pil ot study and two studies using college student samples were conducted to derive, retain, and validate scale items. The final 38-item scale i s comprised of subscales measuring attitudes about safer sex, normativ e beliefs, intention to try to practice safer sex, expectations about the feasibility of safer sexual activity, perceived susceptibility to HIV/AIDS, and substance use. Each subscale contributed to the predicti on of critical theoretical constructs, accounting for about 40% of the variance in. intention to try to practice safer sex and for about one fifth of the variance in self-reported HIV risk behavior. The final s cale, as well as each subscale, was characterized by internal reliabil ity and both construct and predictive validity.