Development and Psychometric Testing of the Safer Sex Behavior for Thai Women Scale

This study used a mixed method sequential explanatory design to develop and test the psychometric properties of the Safer Sex Behavior for Thai Women Scale. The conceptual model and content domains were derived from a comprehensive literature review. Five domains and 70 items of safer sex behaviors for Thai women were generated through in-depth interviews from 20 Thai women. The first draft instrument was verified for content validity by 7 experts and examined for the clarity by 6 Thai women. Out of 70 items, 53 items remained. The construct validity of the revised scale was tested by exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. The participants were 298 and 354 Thai women, respectively. The results revealed that scale was composed of 9 factors and accounted for 50.17 % of the variances. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that only 8 factors (42 items) fitted the empirical data, namely: avoiding having sex with a partner who has multiple-partners; negotiating with partners for condom use; avoiding alcohol drinking and drug use; avoiding having sex with a partner who has sexual transmitted infection; protecting when partner has sexual transmitted infections; using condom; avoiding having sexual intercourse; and reducing sexual risk behavior. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the overall scale was 0.89. Thus the instrument has good construct validity and reliability. This instrument has potential to monitor and evaluate a nursing intervention to promote safer sex behavior among Thai women.