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A growing body of literature suggests that an association exists between sexual compulsivity and participation in sexual behaviors that are high risk in terms of HIV/STD infection. In most of these studies, sexual compulsivity has been measured using the Sexual Compulsivity Scale (SCS; Kalichman & Rompa, 1995). As yet, sexual compulsivity has only been assessed with this scale among individuals who are members of "high risk" groups for HIV infection or who are HIV-positive. In this study, we found support for reliability and construct validity of the SCS in a sample of 876 heterosexual college students, a group not yet examined in the sexual addiction and compulsivity literature. Construct validity was substantiated by the presence of significant relationships of sexual compulsivity with frequencies of sexual behaviors and numbers of sexual partners. The scale was also related to gender and age. Sexual compulsivity scores were associated with frequency of risky sexual behaviors. The relationships between sexual compulsivity and solo, partner, public, and risky sexual behaviors remained significant when we controlled for demographic variables. Although we found support for construct validity of the SCS in our sample, it is not clear whether the scale distinctly measures sexual compulsivity or taps into other constructs, such as sexual desire and sexual exploration.
Recent studies suggest that sexual compulsivity is related to participation in sexual behaviors that are high risk for HIV infection (Benotsch, Kalichman, & Kelly, 1999; Kalichman, Greenberg, & Abel, 1997; Kalichman et al., 1994; Kalichman & Rompa, 1995; Kalichman & Rompa, 2001; Reece, Plate, & Daughtry, 2001). Sexual compulsivity has been defined as "an insistent, repetitive, intrusive, and unwanted urge to perform specific acts often in ritualized or routinized fashions" (Kalichman & Rompa, 1995, p. 587). Recently, some have conceptualized sexual compulsivity as a pattern of participation in sexually oriented activities in a manner that is persistent and escalating and that has the potential to result in negative consequences for self and others, or the drive to participate in such activities (National Council on Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity, 2004; Reece, 2003). Although substantial debate and skepticism surround the nature and existence of sexual compulsivity as a "pathological condition" (Levine & Troiden, 1988), the concept has been widely studied and measured in recent sexological, psychological, and public...