Sexual Self-Concept Inventory (O’Sullivan, Meyer-Bahlburg, & McKeague, 2006)

• Populations: Middle Adolescents
• Age ranges: 12-14
• Languages: English
• Countries: United States

Items

Subscales

• Sexual Arousability, 17 items
• Sexual Agency, 10 items
• Negative Sexual Affect, 7 items

Items By Subscale

Sexual Arousability

• I sometimes think I’d like to try doing the sexual things my friends are doing with their boyfriends. 
• When I kiss a guy, I get hot. 
• I would really want to touch a boyfriend if we were left alone together. 
• I sometimes want to know how different types of sex feel. 
• If I’m going to see a guy I like, I like to dress sexy. 
• If a guy kisses me, I also want him to touch my body. 
• When I flirt with a guy, I like to feel him up. 
• Sometimes I dress sexy to get attention from guys. 
• If I were to kiss a guy, I’d get really turned on. 
• There are things about sex I want to try. 
• If a boy kisses me, my body feels good. 
• I enjoy talking about sex or talking sexy with boys I know really well. 
• If I were kissing and touching a guy, I would get hyped, real excited. 
• I enjoy talking about sex with my girl friends. 
• It’s okay to feel up on a guy. 
• I like it when a guy tells me I look good. 
• I think I’m ready to have sex. 

Sexual Agency

• Girls always wonder what sex is going to be like the first time. 
• I sometimes think about who I would want to have sex with. 
• When I decide to have sex with a guy, it will be because I wanted to have sex and not because he really wanted me to have sex with him. 
• Girls sometimes have sex because they’re curious and want to see what it’s like. 
• Sex is best with a guy you love. 
• I like to let a guy know when I like him. 
• If I have sex, my friends will want to know all about it. 
• If I had sex with a guy, I would be running the risk of being played (taken advantage of). 
• Flirting is fun and I am good at it. 
• If I have sex with a guy, I would worry that I could get my feelings really hurt. 

Negative Sexual Affect

• If I kiss a guy I don’t really know, I’m afraid of what people will think about me. 
• Sex is nasty. 
• Sex isn’t fun for girls my age. 
• I would be scared to be really alone with a boyfriend. 
• Some girls have sex just to be accepted or popular. 
• I think I am too young to have sex. 
• If I have sex, my friends will want to know all about it.

Responses

Items used a 6 point Likert-type scale, 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 6 (Strongly Agree)

Scoring

“Subscale scores were derived by summing participants’ responses to items within the sub- scales.” (O’Sullivan, Meyer-Bahlburg, & McKeague, 2006)

Citations

• O’Sullivan, L. F., Meyer-Bahlburg, H. F. L., & McKeague, I. W. (2006). The development of the sexual self-concept inventory for early adolescent girls. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 30(2), 139-149. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6402.2006.00277.x

Team comments

The Negative Sexual Affect subscale did not reach our threshold for adequacy in terms of Internal Consistency