The questionnaire on sexual experience and partnership quality (Q-SEx-PaQ): concept and first empirical test using data from the Berlin BASE-II cohort

Abstract

Partnership quality is associated with physical and psychological health. The Questionnaire on Sexual Experience and Partnership Quality (Q-SEx-PaQ) was constructed as a part of the Berlin Aging Study (BASE-II). It allows the assessment of the main dimensions of sexuality and partnership quality. Aims were to analyze factorial validity including measurement invariance across age and to examine hypotheses regarding test criterion correlations as part of a validation strategy. We also wanted to estimate the test scores’ reliability in a large survey setting. A combination of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses was used to first explore and then test factorial validity. We analyzed baseline cross-sectional data from 233 younger (28.3 ± 3.0 years) and 767 older (68.2 ± 3.7 years) participants from the BASE-II. The EFA showed two-factor-solutions for the scales partnership satisfaction and changes of meaning ascribed to partnership and four-factor-solutions for meaning ascribed to partnership and partner selection. CFAs confirmed these structures. Reliability estimates were satisfactory with few exceptions. The empirical findings support the reliability and factorial validity of the Q-SEx-PaQ scores. The questionnaire provides a short yet comprehensive instrument to assess sexual experiences and partnership quality of same age groups using factor scores and is not appropriate for individual diagnostics.