Adolescent Perceived Costs and Benefits Scale for Sexual Intercourse (Small, Silverberg, & Kerns, 1993)

• Populations: Adolescents
• Age ranges: 7th-12th Grade US
• Languages: English
• Countries: United States

Items

Subscale

• Perceived Costs
• Perceived Benefits

Items by Subscale

Perceived Costs

• Teenagers don’t have sex because they think it is morally wrong or against their religion.
• Teenagers don’t have sex because they don’t want to get a sexually transmitted disease (STD) or a disease like AIDS.
• Teenagers don’t have sex because their parent(s) don’t approve. 
• Teenagers don’t have sex because they don’t feel old enough to handle it. 
• Teenagers don’t have sex because their friends won’t approve. 
• Teenagers don’t have sex because they or their partner might get pregnant.
• Teenagers don’t have sex because they aren’t in love with anyone yet. 
• Teenagers don’t have sex because they don’t need it to make them happy. 
• Teenagers don’t have sex because they would feel guilty. 
• Teenagers don’t have sex because they or their partner might get pregnant which might mess up their future plans for college, school or a career.

Perceived Benefits

• Teenagers have sex because it helps them forget their problems. 
• Teenagers have sex because it makes them feel grown up. 
• Teenagers have sex because they want to get pregnant or become a parent.
• Teenagers have sex as a way to get or keep a boyfriend or girlfriend. 
• Teenagers have sex because it makes them feel good. 
• Teenagers have sex because it makes them feel loved. 
• Teenagers have sex because they want to fit in with their friends. 
• Teenagers have sex because they want to see what it’s like. 
• Teenagers have sex because it makes them feel more confident and sure of themselves.
• Teenagers have sex because people they admire or look up to make it seem like a “cool” thing to do.

Responses

Items used a 4 point Likert-type scale, 0 = Strongly Disagree, 1 = Disagree, 2 = Agree, 3 = Strongly Agree

Scoring

“For each subscale a total perceived costs or benefits score is obtained by summing the 10 individual items. Scores can range from 0 to 30 with a higher score reflecting higher perceived costs or benefits. Individual items can also be examined to gain insight into the primary or modal reasons particular groups of adolescents perceive for engaging or not engaging in sexual intercourse.” (Small, 2020)

Citations

• Small, S. A., Silverberg, S. B., & Kerns, D. (1993). Adolescents’ perceptions of the costs and benefits of engaging in health-compromising behaviors. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 22, 73–87. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01537905
• Small, S. A. (2020). Adolescent Perceived Costs and Benefits Scale for Sexual Intercourse. In R. R. Milhausen, J. K. Sakaluk, T. D. Fischer, C. M. Davis, W. L. Yarber (Eds.), Handbook of sexuality-related measures, 4th edition (31-33). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781315183169/handbook-sexuality-related-measures-terri-fisher-clive-davis-william-yarber-robin-milhausen-john-sakaluk