The Female Sexuality Questionnaire: instrument development

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a measure of female sexuality, the Female Sexuality Questionnaire (FSQ). A survey design was employed for the study. The sample included 262 adult women ages 18 to 81 (M = 32). Five hundred questionnaires were distributed to a diverse female population representing multiple geographic areas in the U.S. and Canada. Participants were healthy (as per self-report), sexually active and engaged in an intimate relationship. The majority of the sample was premenopausal. Item stems for the FSQ were developed based on the literature and the domain-referenced approach for item generation. A pool of 70 items generated to represent 6 theoretical domains of female sexuality: Reproduction, Beliefs, Intimacy, Body Image, Physical Responsiveness, and Satisfaction were subjected to systematic review by a panel of experts. A 5-point self-report response scale was appended to the 54 items surviving judges' reviews (criterion validity index of 91.3 for the pool of retained items). Data screening and item analysis was performed and yielded 13 items which were removed prior to principal factor analysis (PFA) resulting in a sample of 218 subjects and 41 items. The PFA with quartrimax rotation resulted in a 5-factor solution. Four of the five were consistent with the hypothesized domains of Satisfaction, Physical Responsiveness, Beliefs, and Body Image. The fifth factor suggested an association with Intimacy, and was renamed Relationships. The hypothesized domain of Reproduction was not supported. Twelve items failed to load on any of the factors. Recommendations for alternations of the final version of the FSQ are based upon the empirical results of the item analysis and PFA.