Sexual craving as a core process in dysregulated sexual behaviors: Psychometric validation of the Short Scale of Sexual Craving (3SC).

BACKGROUND

Dysregulated sexual behaviors (DSB) constitute a clinically heterogeneous field in which behavioral content provides limited information about underlying psychological processes. Sexual craving, defined as an unwanted, intrusive, and difficult-to-regulate urge toward sexual behavior, may represent a measurable process-based dimension relevant across heterogeneous DSB presentations. No validated brief measure of sexual craving exists for DSB beyond pornography use.

METHODS

Seventy-six adults reporting DSB, including normophilic and paraphilic presentations, were recruited through clinical and community channels in France. Participants completed the Short Scale of Sexual Craving (3Sc), a three-item measure assessing frequency, intensity, and perceived loss of control, and the Sexual Addiction Screening Test (SAST), used as a criterion comparator. Psychometric analyses examined acceptability, internal consistency, structural validity, and criterion validity, with sensitivity analyses comparing samples with and without participants reporting child sexual exploitation material (CSEM) use.

RESULTS

Acceptability was satisfactory. Internal consistency was acceptable given the scale's brevity and multidimensional design. Structural analysis showed theoretically coherent clustering of 3Sc items with SAST content. Craving frequency and intensity discriminated between SAST-positive and SAST-negative participants across both normophilic and paraphilic presentations. Perceived loss of control was less discriminant among participants reporting CSEM use, likely reflecting context-specific inhibition and reporting biases.

CONCLUSIONS

The 3Sc demonstrates preliminary psychometric support as a brief, process-centered, and non-moralistic screening tool for sexual craving across heterogeneous DSB. These findings support a reorientation of DSB assessment, from classifying behavioral content toward identifying how sexual urges are regulated, and provide an empirical operator for examining addiction-informed hypotheses without presupposing their validity.