Validation of the McCoy Female Sexuality Questionnaire in an Italian sample

This article presents the result of a study that translated into Italian and validated the McCoy Female Sexuality Questionnaire (MFSQ) on an Italian sample. The questionnaire was first administered to a sample of 240 Italian women (age range, 18-65 years) recruited from a gynecology clinic. A principal component analysis identified 2 factors: sexuality (9 items) and partnership (5 items). Both factors showed an adequate inter-item reliability (Cronbach's alpha of .88 and .75, respectively). The validity of the Italian MFSQ was then tested by administering the questionnaire to a sample of 16 women with sexual dysfunction and 46 control women. Sexual dysfunction diagnoses were assessed through a semi-standardized interview based on the DSM-IV-TR diagnoses for Female Sexual Arousal Disorder, Female Orgasmic Disorder, Dyspareunia, and Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder. A discriminant validity test showed significant differences between women with and without female sexual dysfunction. These results indicate that the translated version of the MFSQ is a reliable and valid measure of sexual dysfunction among Italian women. The results also indicated a difference in factor structure between the Italian and the original version of the MFSQ, which warrants further investigation.