PSYCHOLOGY MASTER'S THESIS ABSTRACT

Amanda D. Latimore
MA-Research
Summer 2007

The Psychometric Examination of the Sexual Addiction Screening Test in a Sample of Gay Men at Risk for HIV

    The Sexual Addition Screening Test (SAST) is a common clinical measure used to assess the presence of addictive sexual behavior.  The current study provides evidence for the reliability and validity of the SAST developed to address the unique sexual culture of gay men (gSAST).

    Using Cronbach’s the gSAST was found to have an internal consistency of .815.  This reliability was reached after 1 item, found to have a poor item-total correlation, was removed.  A multitrait multimethod matrix provided evidence for convergent and discriminant construct validity.  The concurrent criterion-related validity of the gSAST was examined by assessing associations between gSAST scores, sexual behaviors and health outcomes.  Giving sex for drugs, homelessness, perceived chance of getting AIDS and history of Hepatitis B accounted for 44% of the variance in gSAST scores.  Furthermore, receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses determined that the gSAST has sufficient diagnostic capabilities at its current cut score of 6.

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