Introduction: Sexual shame develops through socialization, including negative cultural and familial messages, moral judgments, and inadequate sexuality education. Validated Persian-language instruments are lacking. This study aimed to translate, culturally adapt, and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Persian Sexual Shame Inventory (P-SSI) in an Iranian sample.
Methods:The 10-item Sexual Shame Inventory was translated and back-translated following cross-cultural adaptation procedures. A total of 410 Iranian adults (203 women, 207 men) completed the questionnaire and were randomly divided into training (n=205) and testing (n=205) subsamples. Dimensionality was examined using parallel analysis, Velicer's MAP, bootstrap exploratory graph analysis (EGA), DETECT clustering, and exploratory factor analysis (WLSMV, GEOMIN). Candidate structures were cross-validated using confirmatory factor analysis. Reliability and within-model convergent and discriminant validity were assessed using composite reliability, average variance extracted (AVE), and the heterotrait-monotrait ratio (HTMT).
Results: Internal consistency of the total inventory was acceptable (alpha=0.81; men=0.82, women=0.79). The original three-factor model showed CFI, TLI, and SRMR, although RMSEA exceeded the prespecified threshold (CFI=0.957, TLI=0.939, RMSEA=0.090, SRMR=0.061). Bootstrap EGA favored a two-factor solution in 78.0% of resamples (vs. 21.2% for three), while two original subscales showed limited internal consistency (alpha=0.54–0.66). A second-order model with one general and two specific factors fit comparably (CFI=0.951, RMSEA=0.093; omega-hierarchical=0.540, omega-total=0.856).
Conclusion:The Persian SSI demonstrated acceptable internal consistency and preliminary support for a general sexual-shame score. A two-factor representation appeared stable and parsimonious, although competing structures showed comparable fit and substantial factor overlap. The dimensional structure remains provisional, warranting further validation with external measures and samples.