Introduction: Sexual addiction is known as a disorder that afflicts a person with difficulty in controlling or delaying sexual behaviors. To prevent social, physical, and psychological consequences, validated screening tests are needed to diagnose this disorder. One of these tests is established by Carnes with the name of sexual addiction screening test-revised (SAST-R). In this study, SAST-R has been translated and verified in the Persian language.
Methods: The original screening test was translated into the Persian language and also back-translated for matching by two separate expert teams. The data was collected through an online survey of 1268 participants who were in the age range of 18 to 65 years (Mean±SD 29.44±6.90), and 56.1% and 43.9% of the population were women and men, respectively. Three questionnaires, including the SAST-R, the hypersexual behavior consequences scale, and the Connor-Davidson resilience scale as the principal, convergent, and divergent tests were administered to the participants.
Results: The reliability of the test's internal consistency (Cronbach α=0.883), split-half (Cronbach α=0.779), and Guttman (lambda coefficients were between 0.773 to 0.883) tests were used. In addition, 4 methods of content validity (sexual hyperactivity specialist approved), convergent structure validity (P<0.001, R=0.731), the validity of divergent structure (P<0.09, R=-0.132), and factor validity (comparative fit index=0.884, goodness of fit index=0.873, root mean square error of approximation=0.047) were measured and confirmed the validity of the test.
Conclusion: The Persian version of SAST-R is a reliable preclinical tool to assess the severity of sexual desire in patients.
Highlights: The Persian version of sexual addiction screening test-revised (SAST-R) serves as a dependable pre-clinical instrument for evaluating the intensity of sexual desire in patients.Expose various subsets of the original questionnaire that explore different aspects, such as understanding sexual orientation.Proposed cutting-off scores as the guidelines for clinicians to distinguish various aspects of the original questionnaire.
Plain language summary: This study translated and validated the sexual addiction screening test-revised (SAST-R) in Persian. The study involved 1,268 participants who completed the translated test and other questionnaires. Results showed that the Persian version of the SAST-R is a reliable tool for assessing the severity of sexual desire in patients. It demonstrated good internal consistency, reliability, and validity. This validated screening test is important for diagnosing sexual addiction in Persian-speaking individuals, enabling healthcare professionals to identify and support those struggling with the disorder.
Keywords: Hypersexuality; Sexual addiction; Sexual addiction screening test; Sexual hyperactivity.
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