Polish adaptation of Sexual Addiction Screening Test - Revised

Mateusz Gola , Maciej Skorko , Ewelina Kowalewska , Aleksandra Kołodziej , Małgorzata Sikora , Mateusz Wodyk , Zuzanna Wodyk , Paweł Dobrowolski

Abstract

Introduction. Addictive sexual behaviours are gaining more and more attention from researchers. There are actually 25 different questionnaires for assessing the level of loss of control over sexual behaviours (LoCoSB). None of them have been adapted and validated in a Polish language version. Aim. The main aim of this work was to make such an adaptation of the Sexual Addiction Screening Test-Revised (SAST-R; the most popular and questionnaire). Methods. For the purpose of psychometric features examination and validation of the Polish version of SAST-R (SAST-PL-M), we recruited 116 heterosexual men receiving psychological treatment due to LoCoSB and meeting the criteria for hypersexual disorder. The control group consisted of 442 heterosexual males having never looked for any psychological or psychiatric help due to LoCoSB. Results. SAST-PL-M has high reliability (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.904) and good filtering characteristics for identification of people who are potentially experiencing difficulty with control over sexual behaviours (the ROC curve for a threshold of 5 out of a maximum 20 points is characterised by a sensitivity of 99.1% and a specificity of 78.3%). Conclusions. SAST-PL-M can be used as an efficient screening test for symptoms of LoCoSB in clinical and research setups. Results below 5 points indicate a high probability of no problems, while more than 5 points can indicate the need for additional clinical interviews. SAST-PL-M results may be successfully referred to the results of SAST-R when used with heterosexual male populations for research purposes.