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Relationship Between Sexual Compulsivity and Sexual Risk Behaviors Among Chinese Sexually Active Males

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Abstract

Compulsivity is defined as “an insistent, repetitive, intrusive, and unwanted urge to perform specific acts often in ritualized or routinized fashions.” Sexual compulsivity has been shown to be associated with some high risk sexual behaviors related to HIV and sexually transmitted infection (STI). In some Western countries, the 10-item Sexual Compulsivity Scale (SCS) has been developed to assess people’s sexual compulsivity but no Chinese version has been validated. This study validated the Chinese version of the SCS and investigated its associations with specific sexual behaviors. In 2008, a random telephone survey was conducted in the sexually active male general population in Hong Kong, interviewing 1,048 participants. The Chinese version of the SCS was found to be internally consistent (Cronbach’s α = 0.88 for the overall scale), with a mean total score of 20.7 (SD = 4.7). An exploratory factor analysis procedure extracted two factors that were named Controllability and Functional Consequences. Higher SCS scores were associated with multiple female sexual partnerships in the last 6 months, having had sex with either non-regular partner(s) or female sex worker(s) in the last 6 months, having contracted STI in the last 6 months, and inconsistent condom use with either non-regular partner(s) or female sex worker(s) in the last 6 months. The scale can be used to assess sexual compulsivity among sexually active Chinese men in Hong Kong. It can potentially be used in other Chinese communities. Further confirmatory studies are warranted.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank all study participants. The study was supported by the Hong Kong Council for the AIDS Trust Fund (Ref#MSS141R).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, School of Basic Medicine, Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China

    Wei Liao

  2. Centre for Health Behaviours Research, JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China

    Joseph T. F. Lau, Hi Yi Tsui & Zixin Wang

  3. Centre for Medical Anthropology and Behavioral Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China

    Joseph T. F. Lau

  4. CUHK Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen, China

    Joseph T. F. Lau & Zixin Wang

  5. Department of Medical Statistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China

    Jing Gu

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  1. Wei Liao
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  2. Joseph T. F. Lau
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  3. Hi Yi Tsui
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  4. Jing Gu
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Correspondence to Joseph T. F. Lau.

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Liao, W., Lau, J.T.F., Tsui, H.Y. et al. Relationship Between Sexual Compulsivity and Sexual Risk Behaviors Among Chinese Sexually Active Males. Arch Sex Behav 44, 791–798 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-014-0317-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-014-0317-z

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