Development of a measure of college students' adherence to religious doctrine concerning sexual behavior

Objective: The authors developed a 14-item measure of adherence to religious doctrine concerning sexual behavior (ARDSB). The ARDSB psychometric properties were investigated to better understand religious motivations associated with changes in sexual behavior that may provide support for sexual health promotion and prevention programs.

Participants: Four hundred eighty-three undergraduates aged 18 to 26.

Methods: Data were collected from an online survey during the 2012-2013 academic school year.

Results: Principle components factor analysis identified 2 factors: reasons to break religious doctrine and reasons to adhere to religious doctrine concerning sexual behavior. The subscales had good internal consistency. Correlations, t tests, and analyses of variance of the subscales with measures of intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity and self-reported sexual behavior and risk provide support for concurrent validity.

Conclusions: The ARDSB could be employed as a measure to better understand sexual behavior; it is inexpensive and relatively easy to employ in both research and campus ministry settings.