(079) Evaluating Sexual Self-schema Scales for Use Among Women Who Experienced Sexual Trauma: A Systematic Review of Measurement Properties and Practice Implications
Authors: Sartin-Tarm A , Lorenz T 
Published: May 2023

Introduction

“Sexual self-schema" refers to a psychological construct describing the organization of cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions of our understanding of ourselves as sexual beings. Sexual self-schema have been shown to mediate a variety of women’s sexual wellbeing outcomes. It is unclear the extent to which existing measurements of sexual self-schema capture aspects relevant to a sexual trauma history, such as unique patterns of dysregulated sexual excitation and inhibition.

Objective

This systematic review describes existing validated sexual self-schema measurements, and critically discusses each instrument in the context of assessing women who experienced sexual trauma.

Methods

We conducted the review according to PRISMA guidelines. We searched Academic Search Premier, Web of Science, and PsycINFO for reports focused on development and validation of assessment tools for women’s sexual self-schema. The search used pre-specified keywords (“sexual self-schema,” “sexual self-concept,” “sexual self-perception,” or “sexual self-view”). To ensure literature saturation, authors conducted reference branching on studies identified from the search via Google Scholar. Authors then screened titles, abstracts, and methods of all potentially eligible studies.

Results

Searches identified 576 articles, of which 455 unique articles were considered. Of these, 287 and 63 were excluded based on information in the title and abstract, respectively. Of 43 full-text articles retrieved, 20 were removed upon methods inspection. Reference list branching identified 65 additional potential articles, of which two were included. Across methods, 21 total papers were included in the final review. This presentation will present data on each measurement tool, including scope of use, sample description, measurement validation properties, and application considerations. Qualitative synthesis across papers revealed that the Sexual Self Schema Scale for Women (Andersen & Cyranowski, 1994) is the most widely cited and is clearly the field standard, from which further emic versions have been developed across languages and nationalities. Further, available measures vary widely in content specificity/comprehensiveness, face validity, and response valence dimensionality. Only two papers explicitly considered elements of sexual trauma at the measurement development or validation phase.

Conclusions

Existing scales have limited utility in capturing unique social-relational patterns that are common among women who have experienced trauma. Further, few validated scales incorporate nuanced elements of co-occurring, conflicting approach-avoidance orientations toward sex, which suggests that measures may be limited in their ability to assess risk factors for sexual dysfunction among sexual trauma survivors. We list measurement development and validation details and relevant strengths and limitations of 21 unique, varied sexual self-schema measurement instruments for researchers and clinicians who seek to understand cognitive risk and resilience factors among women who have experienced sexual trauma.

Disclosure

No