The Sexual Communication Scale (SeCS)

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Human Sexuality
• Sociology

Background:

• Existing measures of sexual communication lack gender/sex and sexual orientation inclusivity.
• Current scales may not adequately capture the nuances of communication frequency and comfort.
• There is a need for a more inclusive and comprehensive tool to study sexual communication.

Purpose of the Study:

• To revise and extend the Female Partner's Communication During Sexual Activity Scale into the Sexual Communication Scale (SeCS).
• To improve gender/sex inclusivity and add items assessing frequency and comfort of sexual communication.
• To validate the SeCS as a reliable and multidimensional measure.

Main Methods:

• Two studies were conducted involving a total of 2057 participants (Study 1: n=578, Study 2: n=1479).
• Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) in Study 1 and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in Study 2 were used to evaluate the scale's structure.
• Internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach's alpha (α) for each factor.

Main Results:

• Both EFA and CFA supported a three-factor structure for the SeCS: Frequency of bidirectional communication, Ease of own communication, and Ease of partner's communication.
• Reliability analyses indicated strong internal consistency for all factors (α = .96, .90, .83).
• Small or no significant differences were found in comfort and frequency of sexual communication between men and women.

Conclusions:

• The Sexual Communication Scale (SeCS) demonstrates strong internal consistency and a robust three-factor structure.
• The SeCS is a gender/sex inclusive and multidimensional tool suitable for research on sexual communication.
• Findings suggest comparable levels of sexual communication comfort and frequency between genders, supporting the scale's inclusivity.