title: Psychometric properties of the Farsi version of modified Multidimensional Sexual Self-concept Questionnaire.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The awareness regarding the contribution of sexual self-concept to healthy sexual well-being is on a rise. The Multidimensional Sexual Self-concept Questionnaire (MSSCQ) was developed to assess the 20 aspects related to sexual self-concept and has been widely applied in Western societies. The adequacy of its application in Iran has not been determined in order to guaranty its reliability and validity. An attempt was made here to interpret this questionnaire in Farsi and adopt it in Iran with respect to psychometric properties of the native youth.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional design was employed and 352 couples were recruited from a premarital consulting center in Isfahan, Iran on a random basis. The MSSCQ was translated into Farsi and back-translated by four bilingual scholars. Face and content validity of the questionnaire was determined. Internal consistency was evaluated by applying Cronbach's alpha. Pearson correlation coefficient was employed. The adopted model was tested through confirmatory factor analysis using SPSS-AMOS software (version 16).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age of couples was 25.68 years (women 23.92 ± 2.92 years and men 27.44 ± 3.14 years). The obtained Cronbach's alpha was 0.88. Twenty-two items with an impact score below 1.5 and content validity index <0.70 were omitted. Pearson correlation showed positive and negative correlations among the dimensions. Sexual anxiety, fear of sex, and sexual depression had negative correlation with the other dimensions (r = -0.36, r = -0.43, r = -0.32, respectively). The model exhibited adequate fitness: χ(2)/df = 4.95, goodness-of-fit index = 0.95, adjusted goodness-of-fit index = 0.91, normed fit index = 0.94, comparative fit index = 0.95, and root mean square error of approximation = 0.07.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Farsi version of MSSCQ with 78 items is valuable and reliable to be applied on the youth in Isfahan. This questionnaire was verified under two main categories through confirmatory factor analysis: negative sexual self-concept and positive sexual self-concept.
authors.affiliation: Department of Midwifery and Reproductive Health, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Teyebe
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ziaei
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Education and Health Promotion, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Effat Merghati
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Khoei
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Mehrdad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Salehi
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Ziba
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Farajzadegan
keywords: Couples; Farsi; Iran; MSSCQ; psychometric; sexual self-concept