The Bergen-Yale Sexual Addiction Scale (BYSAS): Longitudinal Measurement Invariance Across a Two-Year Interval

Psychiatr Q. 2024 Dec;95(4):561-577. doi: 10.1007/s11126-024-10087-6. Epub 2024 Aug 29.

Abstract

The Bergen-Yale Sexual Addiction Scale (BYSAS; [1]) is arguably the most popular questionnaire at present for assessing sex addiction. Employing Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and treating item scores as ordered categorical, we applied Weighted Least Square Mean and Variance Adjusted Chi-Square (WLSMV) extraction to investigate the longitudinal measurement and structural invariance of ratings on the BYSAS among 276 adults (mean = 31.86 years; SD = 9.94 years; 71% male) over a two-year period, with ratings at three yearly intervals. Overall, there was support for configural invariance, full loading, full threshold, the full unique factor invariance; and all structural (latent variances and covariances) components. Additionally, there was no difference in latent mean scores across the three-time points. The psychometric and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Keywords: BYSAS; Confirmatory factor analysis; Longitudinal measurement invariance; Ordinal data; Sex addiction; The bergen–yale sexual addiction scale.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Behavior, Addictive*
  • Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder
  • Factor Analysis, Statistical
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / standards
  • Psychometrics* / instrumentation
  • Psychometrics* / standards
  • Sexual Behavior*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires / standards
  • Young Adult