Faculty Collaboration Database

Sexual sensation seeking: scale development and predicting AIDS-risk behavior among homosexually active men. J Pers Assess 1994 Jun;62(3):385-97

Date

06/01/1994

Pubmed ID

8027907

DOI

10.1207/s15327752jpa6203_1

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-0028452110 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   474 Citations

Abstract

Sensation seeking, the propensity to prefer exciting, optimal, and novel stimulation or arousal, is a potential mediating factor in sexual risk for human immunodeficiency virus infection (HIV), the cause of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). However, the most widely used measure of sensation seeking, the Sensation Seeking Scale (Zuckerman, Kolin, Price, & Zoob, 1964), contains numerous culturally outdated items and items that do not pertain to sexual behavior. In this study, 106 homosexually active men completed newly developed measures of sensation seeking related to sexual and nonsexual experiences, as well as a measure of sexual compulsivity. Results show that the new scales were internally consistent and time-stable. Additional analyses demonstrated convergent, divergent, and discriminant validity for these scales, showing them to be of use as mediating variables in models of high-risk sexual behavior. Implications for HIV prevention and behavior change are discussed.

Author List

Kalichman SC, Johnson JR, Adair V, Rompa D, Multhauf K, Kelly JA

Author

Jeffrey A. Kelly PhD Professor in the Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Condoms
HIV Seropositivity
Homosexuality
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Reproducibility of Results
Risk-Taking
Sex Factors
Sexual Behavior