The portuguese version of the sexual distress scale: psychometric properties in male and female samples

Abstract

<h3>Objectives</h3> The Female Sexual Distress Scale is one of the most widely used self-report instruments to assess sexual distress. This scale has been validated across populations, but no version for use in the Portuguese population is available to date. The aim of this study was to develop a Portuguese version of the scale—herein called the Sexual Distress Scale (SDS)—and to examine its psychometric properties in samples of women and men with and without distressing sexual problems. <h3>Methods</h3> A sample of 382 (283 women) and 1,109 (761 women) participants (age range = 18 to 72 years) with and without distressing sexual problems, respectively, completed a survey that included a sociodemographic and health questionnaire, the Portuguese version of the SDS, and validated measures of sexual satisfaction, sexual quality of life, sexual dysfunctional beliefs, sexual function, dyadic adjustment, and psychological distress. <h3>Results</h3> The Portuguese SDS replicated the unifactorial structure of the original scale. The Portuguese SDS also showed good evidences of validity based on content and on relations with other variables. Internal consistency and test-retest (1 month) reliabilities were excellent. The SDS scores did not flag differential functioning of items and test (DFIT) across gender, but flagged DFIT between participants with and without distressing sexual problems. <h3>Conclusions</h3> The Portuguese version of the SDS can be used to assess sexual distress in Portuguese women and men and can be used to compare between these two groups. Without further evidence the authors do not recommend using the SDS to compare the scores of individuals with and without distressing sexual problems as some items and the total score are biased against the former. <h3>Conflicts of Interest</h3> The authors report no conflicts of interest.