The Hurlbert Index of Sexual Desire-Short Form: Psychometric Properties

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Human Sexuality
• Psychometrics

Background:

• The Hurlbert Index of Sexual Desire (HISD) is a 25-item measure of sexual desire in relationships.
• Its length limits application in longitudinal and large-scale studies.
• The factor structure of the HISD has not been extensively examined.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a psychometrically rigorous short form of the HISD.
• To create a brief measure of sexual desire suitable for diverse research contexts.
• To ensure the short form retains the validity and reliability of the original scale.

Main Methods:

• A sequential, three-sample validation design using Amazon Mechanical Turk datasets (N=500, 389, 418).
• Item reduction employed exploratory structural equation modeling and bifactor analyses.
• Psychometric properties including reliability, validity, and differential item functioning were assessed.

Main Results:

• A nine-item short form (HISD-SF) was developed, best represented by a bifactor model.
• The HISD-SF demonstrated excellent model fit in training and acceptable fit in testing/replication samples.
• High overall reliability (ω_cat ≈ .97) and strong convergent validity were observed, mirroring the full HISD.
• No significant item bias was detected across demographic variables.

Conclusions:

• The HISD-SF is a psychometrically sound, brief alternative to the full HISD.
• It offers enhanced conceptual clarity and practical utility for research and clinical settings.
• This short form facilitates the study of sexual desire in various contexts without compromising measurement quality.