Evaluating the validity and reliability of a modified schedule of sexist events: implications for public health research on women's HIV risk behaviors

• Published in: Women & health Vol. 47; no. 2; p. 19
• Main Authors: Bowleg, Lisa, Neilands, Torsten B, Choi, Kyung-Hee
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.01.2008
• Subjects: Adult; California - epidemiology; Cross-Sectional Studies; Ethnic Groups - statistics & numerical data; Female; Health Behavior - ethnology; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Health Promotion - methods; HIV Infections - ethnology; HIV Infections - prevention & control; Humans; Interpersonal Relations; Reproducibility of Results; Risk-Taking; Safe Sex - ethnology; Safe Sex - statistics & numerical data; Sexual Behavior - ethnology; Surveys and Questionnaires; Women's Health; California
• ISSN: 0363-0242; 1541-0331
• DOI: 10.1080/03630240802092175

This study evaluated the validity and reliability of a modified version of the Schedule of Sexist Events-Lifetime (SSE, Klonoff & Landrine, 1995) (SSE-LM) and its applicability to women's HIV risk behaviors. Participants included a multi-ethnic baseline sample of women (N = 754) between the ages of 18 and 39 years (M = 22.43) who attended family planning clinics in the San Francisco Bay area. Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that a higher-order factor model provided a satisfactory and a more parsimonious account for correlations among the measure's four sexism factors than a single latent factor model. Scale reliability for the SSE-LM was excellent (Cronbach' s alpha = .89). Structural equation modeling results demonstrated that the SSE-LM is associated with women's sexual risk behaviors with secondary partners, but not primary partners.