Evaluation and validation of the revised Thorne Sex Inventory: implications for female sexual offenders

Abstract

This study examines the psychometric properties of a revised version of the Thorne Sex Inventory (TSI) (Thorne 1965, 1966), a self-report measure of female sexuality. It examines the viability of using this instrument to assess female psychosexual functioning and discriminate female sexual offenders from a non-offending sample. Through building upon Kirchoff-Gordon's work (1996), a short form of the TSI tapping 6-underlying factors of female sexuality is identified. Patterns of correlations and group discriminations mapped effectively onto this final 6-factor solution. The instrument is recommended as a viable research tool, though some psychometric limitations need addressing before it is extended to clinical use. Implications are discussed with reference to features that discriminate female sexual offenders from non-offenders and techniques for assessing female sexual dysfunction.

Keywords:

• assessment
• female
• sexual offending

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the sad history associated with this research, namely the death of two excellent clinicians and researchers, Clare Whelan and Elvira Kirchoff-Gordon. They hope that this article goes some way towards extending and realising their contribution to this research area. The authors posthumously extend sincere appreciation to Elvira Kirchoff-Gordon for providing the foundations for this research, and making her work available to be continued and developed by the current authors.