Validation of the New Sexual Satisfaction Scale-Short Form in Sweden and its Relationship with Protective Psychological Factors

Abstract: The primary objective of this study was to validate the Swedish version of the New Sexual Satisfaction Scale-Short form (NSSS-S) in the Swedish population and explore its association with protective psychological factors, including self-compassion, body awareness, and body appreciation. The questionnaire survey method was used in this study, and a sample of Swedish-speaking participants (n = 164) aged 18 and above was recruited. The analysis of Internal Consistency and Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) yielded favorable results, confirming the reliability and construct validity of the Swedish version of NSSS-S, despite the need for some adjustments during several items. Difference analysis indicated no significant differences in sexual satisfaction across demographic variables including age, gender and mediation experience. For sexual orientation, excepting pansexual individuals experienced higher level of sexual satisfaction than heterosexual individuals, there was no significant difference between heterosexual and sexual minority groups in sexual satisfaction. The individuals who were in relationship reported higher sexual satisfaction than those without partners, whereas as the duration increased, the sexual satisfaction decreased. Additionally, correlation and mediation analyses revealed that body appreciation was positively associated with sexual satisfaction, and it was the mediator between body awareness and sexual satisfaction. There was no direct association between self-compassion and sexual satisfaction, and no evidence for a mediation effect of self-compassion.This result demonstrated the significant role of body appreciation and body awareness in promoting sexual satisfaction directly or indirectly. Self reported social anxiety was negatively related to sexual satisfaction.