The sexual compulsivity scale: Further development and use with HIV-positive persons

We examined the reliability and validity of the Sexual Compulsivity Scale f or use in assessing HIV-positive men and women. Measures collected from 287 men and women recruited from the community, the majority of whom were Afri can American and over the age of 30, showed that the Sexual Compulsivity Sc ale was reliable for men (alpha = .89) and women (alpha = .92). Correlation s with measures of sexual behaviors and numbers of sex partners supported t he concurrent validity of the Sexual Compulsivity Scale for men and women. Results of discriminant function analyses that included participant age, us e of nonalcohol drugs, the Sexual Compulsivity Scale, and scores on measure s of trait anxiety, obsessive-compulsiveness, future pessimism, cognitive d epression, and borderline personality characteristics showed that sexual co mpulsivity clearly discriminated between persons with 1 or no sex partners and persons with multiple partners in the past 3 months, for both men and w omen, suggesting evidence for criterion-related validity. Associations betw een sexual compulsivity scores and other markers of psychopathology showed different patterns for men and women; sexual compulsivity was associated wi th indexes of psychopathology in men but not in women. We conclude that the Sexual Compulsivity Scale is reliable and valid in assessing men and women infected with HIV, although sexual compulsivity may present differently be tween genders in relation to other forms of psychopathology.