Sexological testing


can be inscribed in a multidimensional model comprising different aspects of human life: biology, reproduction, culture, entertainment, relationships and love.
In the last decades, a growing interest towards sexuality and a greater quest to acknowledge a "right to sexuality" has occurred both in society and individuals. The consequence of this evolution has been a renewed and more explicit call for intervention from those who suffer, or think they suffer from alterations of their sexual and relational sphere.
This has produced an increased attention of medicine and psychology towards sexual dysfunctions and the problems they cause in individuals and couples. Science has gradually adjusted already existing research tools, mostly used in other fields of clinical research, to the field of sexology, so completing and increasing the number of tools in the "toolkit" of various branches of sexological diagnosis.
Psychological measurements cannot be considered as accurate as physical ones, as the former evaluate those aspects and variables pertaining to an "individual" whose individuality refers to his/her own psychological, personological and environmental constituents: emotions, expressiveness, senses, feelings and experiences which can greatly vary according to the subjects and change in the short period or depending on different settings, even in the same individual.
What is expected of psychological measurements is "sufficient" accuracy and reliability, i.e. capability to express an indication or focus which clinicians can use as a "guideline" to rapidly and accurately deepen the aspects highlighted by the measurements and check them together with their patients. For this purpose, several statistical validation indexes of psychodiagnostic tests are provided: from standardization to various constructions of validity.
There are several sexual dysfunctions and each of them has a different cause. Therefore, the field of sexology provides different psychological evaluation devices in order to examine the various aspects of the discomfort, problem or dysfunction, regardless of whether they are individual or relational ones.
The number of psychodiagnostic reactives is certainly wide and heterogeneous, nevertheless, the number of tests specifically meant for the field of sexology is quite limited. The following list is not exhaustive but shows the best known and/or most used reactives in the field of sexological and relational psychodiagnosis.

Index

ASEX (Arizona Sexual Experience Scale)

  • ASEX - Arizona Sexual Experience Scale
This test is intended for the assessment of sexual dysfunctions in psychiatric patients and people with health problems. It particularly evaluates modifications and alterations of sexual functions in relation to the intake of medicines or psychotropic substances.

This self-report questionnaire can be both administered by a clinician or self-administered. It is made up of five items rated on a 6-point Likert scale.
Each item explores a particular aspect of sexuality: 1. Sexual drive, 2. Arousal, 3a. Penile erection; 3b. Vaginal lubrication, 4. Ability to reach orgasm, 5. Satisfaction from orgasm.

Only one item of the scale has a male and a female version.

This test provides good reliability indexes with a Cronbach's coefficient alpha of 0.90 and correlation with r = 0.80. The "validity of the construction" has been evaluated by several studies through differences in the scores obtained by sample groups and control groups.

Convergent and discriminant validity have been measured comparing the results obtained by ASEX with those obtained by other tests. Particularly, it has been found a significant correlation between ASEX and BISF, while little correlation has been noticed between ASEX and HRSD - Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression and BDI - Beck Depression Inventory.

ASKAS (Aging Sexuality Knowledge and Attitudes Scale)

  • ASKAS - Aging Sexuality Knowledge and Attitudes Scale
This questionnaire is aimed at knowing sexuality and sexual attitudes in the elderly. It is made up of 61 items divided into two subscales: "Knowledge subscale", a 35-item scale with "True/False" and "I don't know" answers and "Attitudes subscale" which is composed of 26 items rated on a 7-point Likert scale. Both subscales provide good reliability indexes for Cronbach's alpha, test-retest and split half methods measured on different types of groups: Nursing home resident, Community older adults, Family of older adults, Persons who work with older adults, Nursing home staff.

According to several studies carried out by the same author, sexual behaviour and attitudes during older age reflects those adopted during younger age, in fact:
  • those people who were sexually active during youth tend to maintain this behaviour during older age;
  • negative attitudes towards sex learned during youth can significantly affect the ability to have good sexuality during older age.
ASKAS has been used to study the effects of sexual education on the attitudes of nursing home residents, their relatives and nursing home staff towards sexuality in the elderly. It has been noted that, after receiving sexual education, nursing home staff and relatives were more tolerant towards sexual intercourse in older age. Moreover, there was a significant increase in the sexual activity and satisfaction in those elderly people who had been given sexual education.

An Italian survey carried out through a translated version of ASKAS among general practitioners has found that almost the entire sample knew that sexuality is a lifelong need and it is not hazardous to elderly people's health, but, at the same time, it has revealed a lot of fallacies, confusion, stereotypes and lack of accurate knowledge of sexuality in old men and old women.

Several studies carried out in the fields of medicine and psychology throughout the world, have confirmed that this test can be used in order to assess elderly people and to survey their relatives and those professionals working close to them: doctors, psychologists and social workers.

BSRI (Bem Sex-Role Inventory)

Self-administering questionnaire measures masculinity, femininity, androgyny, using the masculinity and femininity scales.

The concept of psychological androgyny implies that it is possible for an individual to be both compassionate and assertive, both expressive and instrumental, both feminine and masculine, depending upon the situational appropriateness of these various modalities.

PSESQ33 (Parental Sexual Education Styles Questionnaire)

PSESQ33 – Parental Sexual Education Styles Questionnaire
this questionnaire was first developed by Abdollahzadeh and Keykhosravi.
The attitude of parents to their children's sexual education has an effect on their sexual behavior and interaction with their children. No specific measurement tool has ever been developed to evaluate and measure this matter. The aim of present study was to develop a parental sexual education style questionnaire and determine its psychometric criteria.Three factors were extracted from the results of confirmatory factor analysis, including strict sexual education style, permissive sexual education style and authoritative education style. In general, all three factors were able to explain 50.32% of variance related to 33 items of the questionnaire. The value of Cranach's alpha coefficient was obtained equal to 0.751 for whole of the questionnaire. Also, the value of Cranach's alpha for the first three components was equal to 0.739, 0.765 and 0.751, respectively. The Varimax rotation matrix showed that all questions are applicable to the extracted styles.

DAS (Dyadic Adjustment Scale)

  • DAS - Dyadic Adjustment Scale
This scale is made up of 32 items which explore four interdependent dimensions in order to evaluate relational adaptation between husband and wife: agreement between husband and wife on important matters, cohesion of the couple on common activities, satisfaction of the couple with the progress of their relationship, expression of satisfaction with their affective and sexual life.

DIQ (Diagnostic Impotence Questionnaire)

  • DIQ - Diagnostic Impotence Questionnaire
This questionnaire evaluates the different components in male erectile dysfunction: Vascular, Neurogenic, Hormonal, Psychogenic.
The scores of V-N-H components provide information about those organic factors responsible for the dysfunction; the scores of P component indicate the influence of the psychogenic component. If the total score of V-N-H components is higher than the score of P component, then the organic etiology prevails over the psychogenic one.
This device is useful in the clinic setting. However, due to the fact that it is not validated nor standardised, it must be used carefully in researches and screenings.

DSFI (Derogatis Sexual Function Inventory)

  • DSFI - Derogatis Sexual Function Inventory
A standardised self-evaluation questionnaire made up of 258 items. It produces nine sexual dimensions, a dimension about psychopathological symptoms and an SFI index. Due to the high number of items, it requires a considerable amount of time to be filled in.

EDITS (Erectile Dysfunction Inventory of Treatment Satisfaction)

A self-evaluation questionnaire on erectile dysfunction which is meant for male patients and their partners. It explores achievements, perceived satisfaction, and treatment effectiveness.
The items meant for male patients study expectations, effectiveness, side effects and their willingness to continue with the treatment. The items meant for their partners explore the changes occurred in the couple's sexual activity and allow to notice the concordance between the subjective answers of the patients and the objective ones provided by theirs partners.