Initial development and validation of item banks to measure problematic hypersexuality

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Psychiatry
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• Problematic Hypersexuality (PH) is defined by distress from hypersexual behavior, often leading individuals to seek treatment.
• Existing instruments for measuring PH originate from diverse perspectives, necessitating a unified approach to identify optimal measurement characteristics.
• A comprehensive analysis of existing instruments is crucial for developing accurate and reliable tools for PH assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate two complementary item banks for measuring Problematic Hypersexuality (PH).
• To identify the most optimal set of characteristics for measuring PH by analyzing existing instruments.
• To create reliable scales for assessing the emotional dysregulation and negative consequences associated with PH.

Main Methods:

• Item Response Theory (IRT) was employed to analyze 58 items from a general Dutch population sample (N=1211) and a clinical sample (N=371) seeking information on PH.
• Participants were categorized based on whether they considered treatment for their hypersexual concerns.
• A graded response model was fitted after ensuring assumptions for IRT analyses were met (unidimensionality, local independence, monotonicity).

Main Results:

• Twenty-six out of 58 items were selected and formed two scales: Emotion Dysregulation-PH (9 items) and Negative Effects-PH (17 items).
• The developed scales demonstrated sufficient reliability for assessing PH in individuals experiencing hypersexuality.
• In the general population, the scales exhibited significant floor effects, indicating lower reliability in non-clinical samples.

Conclusions:

• This study represents a foundational step in validating two item banks for measuring PH.
• Further research should focus on responsiveness and developing new items to cover less-explored aspects of PH.
• Achieving high diagnostic accuracy for PH through surveys remains a challenge, even with comprehensive item sets.