A Scale for the Assessment of Sexual Standards Among Youth: Psychometric Properties

The (hetero)sexual double standard (SDS), prescribing sexual modesty for girls and sexual prowess for boys, negatively affects sexual and mental health. Nevertheless, endorsement and enactment of the SDS is still common. In this study, we respond to recent calls for modernization in the field of sexual double standard research. We describe the development of the "Scale for the Assessment of Sexual Standards among Youth" (SASSY), as well as its psychometric properties. This instrument was designed to measure contemporary sexual double standard endorsement, defined as "the degree to which an individual's attitude reflects a divergent set of expectations for boys and girls, in that boys are expected to be relatively more sexually active, assertive, and knowledgeable and girls are expected to be relatively more sexually reserved, passive, and inexperienced" among adolescents and emerging adults. In Study 1, a pool of 35 items was administered in a Dutch sample (N = 465, 54.8% female, age 16-20). A 20-item set formed a one-dimensional and internally consistent scale and was subsequently administered in a second Dutch sample. Study 2 (N = 818, 58.4% female, age 16-25) again assessed the 20-item set. After dropping one item, the 19-item SASSY proved to be one-dimensional and internally consistent, exhibiting good test-retest reliability, construct validity, and convergent validity. Finally, the instrument showed configural and metric measurement invariance across gender, age, education level, and sexual experience level, and configural, metric, and scalar measurement invariance across time. These studies confirmed the 19-item SASSY to be a reliable and valid new tool for the assessment of contemporary sexual double standard endorsement among adolescents and emerging adults

A Scale for the Assessment of Sexual Standards Among Youth: Psychometric Properties

The (hetero)sexual double standard (SDS), prescribing sexual modesty for girls and sexual prowess for boys, negatively affects sexual and mental health. Nevertheless, endorsement and enactment of the SDS is still common. In this study, we respond to recent calls for modernization in the field of sexual double standard research. We describe the development of the "Scale for the Assessment of Sexual Standards among Youth" (SASSY), as well as its psychometric properties. This instrument was designed to measure contemporary sexual double standard endorsement, defined as "the degree to which an individual's attitude reflects a divergent set of expectations for boys and girls, in that boys are expected to be relatively more sexually active, assertive, and knowledgeable and girls are expected to be relatively more sexually reserved, passive, and inexperienced" among adolescents and emerging adults. In Study 1, a pool of 35 items was administered in a Dutch sample (N = 465, 54.8% female, age 16-20). A 20-item set formed a one-dimensional and internally consistent scale and was subsequently administered in a second Dutch sample. Study 2 (N = 818, 58.4% female, age 16-25) again assessed the 20-item set. After dropping one item, the 19-item SASSY proved to be one-dimensional and internally consistent, exhibiting good test-retest reliability, construct validity, and convergent validity. Finally, the instrument showed configural and metric measurement invariance across gender, age, education level, and sexual experience level, and configural, metric, and scalar measurement invariance across time. These studies confirmed the 19-item SASSY to be a reliable and valid new tool for the assessment of contemporary sexual double standard endorsement among adolescents and emerging adults

An implicit measure of sexual double standard endorsement in emerging adults:Reliability and validity aspects

Psychometric characteristics were investigated of an Implicit Association Test to assess implicit endorsement of the sexual double standard (SDS-IAT) in emerging adults. The reliability of the SDS-IAT was investigated focusing on internal consistency across different phases of the test. Convergent validity of the SDS-IAT was evaluated against the Scale for the Assessment of Sexual Standards in Youth, an explicit measure of SDS, and against gender investment. Divergent validity was evaluated against the personality characteristics of extraversion, neuroticism, and social desirability proneness. Gendered patterns were examined. Attenuation-corrected alphas demonstrated acceptable internal consistency, with alphas ranging for.65–.70. A modest level of explicit SDS endorsement was found in both female and male participants. In line with their explicit SDS level, a modest level of implicit SDS endorsement was found in male participants, whereas a reverse implicit SDS was found among young women. In agreement with our theoretical expectations, we found low convergent validity in multitrait-multimethod analysis of the SDS-IAT with a measure of explicit SDS endorsement, and with general level of investment in gender ideals. Similarly, divergent validity analysis revealed absence of significant correlations with the conceptually unrelated concepts of extraversion, neuroticism, and social desirability proneness, except for extraversion in female participants. The present findings suggest that implicit SDS endorsement can be assessed using the SDS-IAT. The finding that explicit and implicit SDS approvals differ in young female participants, while they align in young male participants, warrants further research

An Indirect Measure of Implicit Sexual Assertiveness:Reliability and Validity of the Sexual Assertiveness IAT in Young Adults in The Netherlands

In the present study we investigated the reliability and validity of an Implicit Association Test of sexual assertiveness (the SA-IAT) in a sample of young adults (n = 159). The D600 algorithm was used to calculate implicit sexual assertiveness scores. Explicit sexual assertiveness was measured using a selection of items from the Hurlbert Index of Sexual Assertiveness. Personality traits were assessed using the revised, short version of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. The internal consistency of the SA-IAT was evaluated based on split-half reliability, and found acceptable with α = 0.61 for the practice trials, and α = 0.70 for the test trials, after correction for attenuation. Convergent and divergent validity were evaluated using correlation analysis. Correlation with explicit sexual assertiveness was found to be low, as expected. Divergent validity of the SA-IAT was evaluated against the personality traits of extraversion, neuroticism, and social desirability. Except for a significant correlation of implicit sexual assertiveness with extraversion in the full sample and the female subsample, implicit sexual assertiveness and personality traits were not found to share variance, as expected

Quality of life of residents with dementia in traditional versus small-scale long-term care settings: A quasi-experimental study

Background: The number of people living with dementia worldwide is increasing, resulting in a need for more residential care. In response to criticism of the traditional medical approach to residential dementia care, many large nursing homes are transforming their traditional care facilities into more home-like small-scale living facilities. Objectives: This study examined the assumed benefits of small-scale living for residents with dementia, compared to traditional long-term care in the Netherlands and Belgium. The primary outcome was quality of life, divided into nine different domains. Design: The study had a longitudinal design within a one-year time interval. Settings: Five long-term care settings in the Netherlands and Belgium containing four traditional and twelve small-scale living units participated in the study. Participants: Data were obtained from 179 residents with dementia (age > 65 years) (Dutch small-scale N = 51, traditional N = 51, Belgian small-scale N = 47, traditional N = 30). Methods: Nurses and nursing assistants were trained to fill in the questionnaires. Results: In the Dutch sample, residents in small-scale settings had higher mean scores on 'social relations', 'positive affect', and 'having something to do' than residents in traditional settings. Moreover, mean scores on 'caregiver relation' and 'negative affect' remained stable over time among residents in small-scale settings, but decreased in traditional settings. These differences could not be explained by differences in behavioural characteristics, behavioural interventions, or social interaction. In the Belgian sample, fewer differences were found between traditional and small-scale settings. Nevertheless, residents in small-scale settings were reported to experience less 'negative affect' than those in traditional settings, which could be explained by differences in depression. Over time, however, residents 'felt more at home' in traditional settings, whereas no such increase was found for small-scale settings. Moreover, the mean quality of life scores on 'restless behaviour', 'having something to do' and 'social relations' decreased in small-scale settings, but remained stable in traditional settings. Conclusions: Both small-scale and traditional settings appear to have beneficial effects on different domains of quality of life of residents with dementia. Future research should focus more on the quality and content of the care provided, than on the effects of the scale and design of the environment in long-term care settings