Cross-cultural Validation of the Arizona Sexual Experience Scale (ASEX) in 42 Countries and 26 Languages

Abstract Introduction The Arizona Sexual Experiences Scale (ASEX) is a brief questionnaire that evaluates five major aspects of sexual function: sex drive, arousal, erectile function/vaginal lubrication, ability to reach orgasm, and satisfaction with orgasm. An advantage of the ASEX is its simplicity and brevity (five items), making it suitable for the screening of sexual function problems in healthcare contexts and large-scale studies. The main objective of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the ASEX in a multi-national sample, as well as to explore sexual function according to countries, genders, and sexual orientations. Methods The psychometric examination of the ASEX was conducted with a sample of 82,243 participants (women = 57.02%; men = 39.59%; gender-diverse = 3.38%; M age = 32.39 years; SD = 12.52) from 42 different countries speaking 26 languages. Results The CFA supported a one-factor solution. Multigroup CFAs supported configural, metric, partial scalar, and residual invariance across countries, languages, genders, and sexual orientations. Furthermore, the ASEX showed good internal consistency (ω = .85) and convergent validity (e.g., significant negative associations with masturbation and sexual intercourse frequency). Finally, individuals in Eastern countries, women, and asexual participants reported higher levels of sexual function issues. Conclusions and Policy Implications The findings supported the use of the ASEX as a tool to screen for sexual function problems across diverse populations in multi-cultural settings. This scale may be used to improve our knowledge on the cross-cultural differences on the expression of sexual function, serving as the basis for the development of culturally tailored interventions for the improvement of this basic aspect of well-being.

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Publication Details

Journal
Sexuality Research and Social Policy
Published
2024-10-24
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-024-01040-0
Citations
10
Primary Topic
Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
8.49
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article

Cross-cultural Validation of the Arizona Sexual Experience Scale (ASEX) in 42 Countries and 26 Languages

Shane Winfield Kraus, Elaine F. Fernandez, D.J. Miller, Silvia López‐Alvarado et al.
10 citations
Sexuality Research and Social Policy
Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health
8.49
article

Cross-cultural Validation of the Arizona Sexual Experience Scale (ASEX) in 42 Countries and 26 Languages

Shane Winfield Kraus, Elaine F. Fernandez, D.J. Miller, Silvia López‐Alvarado, Beáta Bőthe, Jesús Castro‐Calvo, Marco de Tubino Scanavino, Ornella Corazza, Ann Rousseau, Hironobu Fujiwara, Rita I. Csákó, Percy Mayta‐Tristán, András Költő, Sheikh Shoib, Gabriel C. Quintero Garzola, Joshua B. Grubbs, Marcel Elipe‐Miravet, Hashim Talib Hashim, Mónika Koós, Zsolt Demetrovics, Berk C. Ünsal, Marion K. Schulmeyer, Lijun Chen, Ateret Gewirtz‐Meydan, Ji‐Kang Chen, Luke Sniewski, Peer Briken, Dominik Batthyány, Giacomo Ciocca, Pratap Sharan, Johannes Fuß, Jano Ramos‐Diaz, Kateřina Lukavská, Sophie Bergeron, Mami Shibata, Marie‐Pier Vaillancourt‐Morel, Marie Claire Van Hout, David P. Fernandez, Ondrej Kalina, Roman Gabrhelík, Rafael Ballester‐Arnal, Ognen Spasovski, Karol Lewczuk, Gábor Orosz, Marc Nicholas Potenza, Georgina Cárdenas‐López, Joël Billieux, Léna Nagy, Biljana Gjoneska, Dan Joseph Stein, Mustafa Ismail, Vera Sigre‐Leirós, Julius Burkauskas, Md. Saiful Islam, Vesta Steiblienė, Gonzalo R. Quintana, Verena Klein, Fernando P. Ponce, Patricia Beltrán-Martínez, Martha C. Jiménez‐Martínez, Oľga Orosová, Chung‐Ying Lin, Christine Löchner, Joana Carvalho, Mateusz Gola, Tanja Jurin, Kévin Rigaud, Sang‐Kyu Lee
article en
10 citations

Abstract

Abstract Introduction The Arizona Sexual Experiences Scale (ASEX) is a brief questionnaire that evaluates five major aspects of sexual function: sex drive, arousal, erectile function/vaginal lubrication, ability to reach orgasm, and satisfaction with orgasm. An advantage of the ASEX is its simplicity and brevity (five items), making it suitable for the screening of sexual function problems in healthcare contexts and large-scale studies. The main objective of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the ASEX in a multi-national sample, as well as to explore sexual function according to countries, genders, and sexual orientations. Methods The psychometric examination of the ASEX was conducted with a sample of 82,243 participants (women = 57.02%; men = 39.59%; gender-diverse = 3.38%; M age = 32.39 years; SD = 12.52) from 42 different countries speaking 26 languages. Results The CFA supported a one-factor solution. Multigroup CFAs supported configural, metric, partial scalar, and residual invariance across countries, languages, genders, and sexual orientations. Furthermore, the ASEX showed good internal consistency (ω = .85) and convergent validity (e.g., significant negative associations with masturbation and sexual intercourse frequency). Finally, individuals in Eastern countries, women, and asexual participants reported higher levels of sexual function issues. Conclusions and Policy Implications The findings supported the use of the ASEX as a tool to screen for sexual function problems across diverse populations in multi-cultural settings. This scale may be used to improve our knowledge on the cross-cultural differences on the expression of sexual function, serving as the basis for the development of culturally tailored interventions for the improvement of this basic aspect of well-being.

Sexuality Research and Social PolicyVol. 22(3)
Eötvös Loránd University (HU), Universitat Jaume I (ES), South African Medical Research Council (ZA), Sigmund Freud Privatuniversität Wien (AT), Florida State University-Panama (PA), Western University (CA), HELP University (MY), Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (LT), Lawson Health Research Institute (CA), University of Nevada, Las Vegas (US), University of Talca (CL), University of Baghdad (IQ), University of Hertfordshire (GB), Hallym University (KR), University of Cape Town (ZA), Universität Hamburg (DE), Universitat de València (ES), University of New Mexico (US), Flinders University (AU), Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts (MK), Chinese University of Hong Kong (HK), University of Zagreb (HR), University of Tarapacá (CL), University of Cuenca (EC), University of Trento (IT), University of Pavol Jozef Šafárik (SK), Charles University (CZ), Pedagogical and Technological University of Colombia (CO), Kyoto University (JP), Stellenbosch University (ZA), Universidad Científica del Sur (PE), Chuncheon National University of Education (KR), Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BD), London Health Sciences Centre (CA), Yale University (US), University of California San Diego (US), Auckland University of Technology (NZ), Universidad Privada de Santa Cruz de la Sierra (BO), Addiction Switzerland (CH), University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (DE), Institute of Psychology (PL), RIKEN Center for Advanced Intelligence Project (JP), Chuncheon National Hospital (KR), Secretaría Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación (PA), University of Kerbala (IQ), St Joseph's Health Care (CA), University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava (SK), National Cheng Kung University Hospital (TW), General University Hospital in Prague (CZ), Hallym University Chuncheon Sacred Heart Hospital (KR), Private University of the North (PE), University of Southampton (GB), University of Warith Al-Anbiyaa, University of Gibraltar, Université d'Artois (FR), Jahangirnagar University (BD), Nottingham Trent University (GB), University of Aveiro (PT), University of Duisburg-Essen (DE), Liverpool John Moores University (GB), Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (CA), All India Institute of Medical Sciences (IN), Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw (PL), Université de Montréal (CA), Sharda University (IN), Fuzhou University (CN), Sapienza University of Rome (IT), James Cook University (AU), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (MX), University of Haifa (IL), National Cheng Kung University (TW), University of Lausanne (CH), KU Leuven (BE), Polish Academy of Sciences (PL)
Gender equality
Openalex Percentile: Top 2%
Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health
8.49
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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