The Sexual Thoughts Questionnaire: Psychometric Evaluation of a Measure to Assess Self-Reported Thoughts During Exposure to Erotica Using Sexually Functional Individuals

Introduction: Validated instruments for assessing specific thought content during exposure to sexually explicit material are lacking.

Aim: To investigate the psychometric properties of a measure that assesses self-reported thoughts during exposure to sexual stimuli in laboratory settings, namely the Sexual Thoughts Questionnaire. The factorial structure of the questionnaire and its reliability and validity were examined.

Methods: One hundred sixty-seven sexually functional individuals (97 women and 70 men) were exposed to sexually explicit material while their genital arousal was being assessed. Subjective sexual arousal and thoughts during exposure to sexually explicit material also were assessed.

Main outcome measures: Women's genital arousal was measured with a vaginal photoplethysmograph and men's genital arousal was measured with an indium-gallium strain gauge. Subjective sexual arousal and thoughts during exposure to erotica were assessed with self-report scales.

Results: Principal component analysis with varimax rotation identified five factors: sexual arousal thoughts, distractive and disengaging thoughts, body image and performance thoughts, actress's physical attractiveness thoughts, and sinful and lack of affection thoughts. Moreover, the scale showed satisfactory levels of internal consistency. Studies on convergent validity showed an association between self-reported thoughts and subjective sexual arousal levels in the women and men.

Conclusion: The Sexual Thoughts Questionnaire showed adequate psychometric properties in a sexually functional sample. It could be useful in further experimental research on the role of cognitions in sexual response and allow further comparison between sexually functional and dysfunctional individuals, with possible significant implications for the assessment and treatment of sexual problems.