The Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) and the Female Sexual Distress Scale (FSDS): Psychometric Properties within a Dutch Population

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI; Rosen et al., 2000 Rosen, R. , Brown, C. , Heiman, J. , Leiblum, S. , Meston, C. , Shabsigh, R. , Ferguson, D. and D'Agostino, R. 2000. The Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI): A multidimensional self-report instrument for the assessment of female sexual function. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 26: 191–208. [CSA] [CROSSREF] [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] [Google Scholar] ) and the Female Sexual Distress Scale (FSDS; Derogatis, Rosen, Leiblum, Burnett, & Heiman, 2002 Derogatis, L. R. , Rosen, R. , Leiblum, S. , Burnett, A. and Heiman, J. 2002. The female sexual distress scale (FSDS): Initial validation of a standardized scale for assessment of sexually related personal distress in women. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 28: 317–330. [CSA] [CROSSREF] [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] [Google Scholar] ) within a Dutch population of approximately 350 women with and without sexual complaints. The main conclusions of this study are that the multidimensional structure of the FSFI and the unidimensional structure of the FSDS are fairly well replicated in a Dutch sample. The amount of variance explained by confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses was good. Internal consistency and stability of the FSFI and its subscales and the FSDS are satisfactory to good, and the subscales are reasonably stable across demographic variables. The discriminant validity and the ability of the scales to predict the presence or absence of sexual complaints was excellent. The convergent and divergent construct validity of the FSFI and the FSDS was good. These results support the reliability and psychometric validity of the FSFI and the FSDS in the assessment of dimensions of female sexual functioning and sexual distress in clinical and nonclinical samples.