ABSTRACT
AIM OF THE STUDY: Our purpose was to develop a new instrument for the assessment of sexual self-esteem in German and to examine its psychometric properties. Subsequently, we aimed to investigate sexual self-esteem in trans*people. METHODS: The construction and validation of the sexual self-esteem scale was realized in a sample of the general population (N=426; Study 1, online) based on confirmatory factor analysis and statistical item analysis. We then investigated an outpatient sample of trans*people (N=85; study 2) to compare sexual self-esteem with the population sample and to examine the associations between sexual self-esteem, body experience, and psychological and psychosomatic distress. RESULTS: An acceptable model fit and good internal consistency for the final unidimensional 8-item solution of the sexual self-esteem scale (SSES) were confirmed. Sexual self-esteem was moderately associated with global self-esteem in the population sample. Trans*people showed a significantly lower sexual self-esteem compared to the normal population. Results also revealed the expected associations with body experience, but no association with psychological and psychosomatic distress. CONCLUSION: The SSES is the first German-language and gender-neutral instrument to assess sexual self-esteem and provides good psychometric properties. It appears promising for monitoring the course and success of the transition treatment of trans*people as well as for its application in couples and sexual therapy.