THE EVALUATION OF MOTIVATION FOR SEXUAL HEALTH AMONG WOMEN

This study conducted a psychometric evaluation of the construct validi ty of the Health Self-Determinism Index-Sexual (HSDI-S). The instrumen t was modified to measure motivation related to sexual health rather t han motivation of general health in the Health Self-Determinism Index (HSDI). The HSDI-S was completed by 260 conveniently selected women (b etween the ages of 18 and 44) attending primary-care clinics in the so utheastern United Stares. Confirmatory factor analysis using LISREL di d not validate the four subscales of the original HSDI. Subsequent exp loratory and confirmatory factor analysis isolated a single-factor mod el composed of eight items: four judgment items and four external/inte rnal cues items. This finding is suggestive that changes in wording ap pear to have shifted the responses from motivation for sexual health t o that of women's perception of their role in intimate relationships. The eight extrinsically worded items isolate a single-factor model of social and cultural influences of childbearing-age women's intimate re lationships.