Sexual Communication Self-Efficacy Scale (Quinn-Nilas et al., 2016)

• Populations: Adolescents, young adults
• Age ranges: 16-22
• Languages: English
• Countries: United Kingdom

Items

Subscales

• Contraceptive Communication;
• Positive Sexual Messages;
• Negative Sexual Messages;
• Sexual History;
• Condom Negotiation

Item Examples by Subcscale

Contraceptive Communication

• Talk about how it feels to use a condom?
• Talk about how to put on a condom?
• Talk about whether a condom is on correctly? 

Positive Sexual Messages

• Suggest a new sexual activity (e.g., a new sexual position)? 
• Tell them you would like to have sex more often? 
• Tell them that a sexual activity feels good? 
• Tell them that you want to have sex? 
• Tell them that you like a specific sexual activity? 
• Initiate sex? 

Negative Sexual Messages

• Tell them a certain sexual activity hurts you?
• Tell them if a certain sexual activity makes you uncomfortable?
• Tell them that a certain sexual activity is not making you feel good?
• Tell them you do not want to have sex? 

Sexual History

• Ask how many partners they have had?
• Ask if they have ever shared needles?
• Ask if they are having sex with other people?
• Ask if they have ever had a sexually transmitted infection?

Condom Negotiation

• Ask if a condom could be used for sex with them?
• Demand that a condom be used?
• Refuse to have sex if they won’t use a condom? 

Responses

Items used a 4 point Likert-type scale, 1 = very difficult, 4 = very easy

Scoring

“The scale is scored using a 4-point scale: 1 (Very difficult), 2 (Difficult), 3 (Easy), and 4 (Very easy). None of the items are reverse scored. There are five subscales; their respective scores are calculated by taking the means of the subscale’s items.”  (Quinn-Nilas et al., 2020)

Citations

Quinn-Nilas, C., Milhausen, R. R., Breuer, R., Bailey, J., Pavlou, M., DiClemente, R. J., & Wingood, G. M. (2016). Validation of the sexual communication self-efficacy scale. Health Education & Behavior, 43(2), 165-171. https://doi.org/10.1177/1090198115598986

Quinn-Nilas, C., Milhausen, R. R., Breuer, R., Bailey, J., Pavlou, M., DiClemente, R. J., & Wingood, G. M.(2020). Sexual Communication Self-Efficacy Scale. In R. R. Milhausen, J. K. Sakaluk, T. D. Fischer, C. M. Davis, W. L. Yarber (Eds.), Handbook of sexuality-related measures, 4th edition (233-235). Routledge.