Vol.:(0123456789)
Sexuality and Disability
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11195-019-09611-5
1 3
ORIGINAL PAPER
Validation of the Knowledge, Comfort, Approach,
and Attitudes Towards Sexuality Scale for Use
with Rehabilitation Counseling Students: An Exploratory
Factor Analysis
Roxanna N. Pebdani
1
· Elina Saeki
2
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract
As research on sexuality and disability in the feld of rehabilitation counseling increases,
having a validated measure to assess knowledge, comfort, and attitudes towards sexuality
and disability in rehabilitation counselors becomes essential. Previously validated meas-
ures of sexuality and disability have largely been utilized in healthcare settings and have
not been validated in the feld of rehabilitation counseling. This article utilizes exploratory
factor analysis to address the validity of using the Knowledge, Comfort, Approach, and
Attitudes Towards Sexuality Scale with rehabilitation counseling students. Results indicate
a poor model ft, suggesting that it may be inappropriate for use with rehabilitation coun-
seling students. The need for a new or revised measure is discussed.
Keywords Rehabilitation counseling · Exploratory factor analysis · Sexuality · Disability ·
Knowledge · Comfort · Attitude · United States
Introduction
Sexuality and disability, once a taboo topic, is increasingly becoming a subject of research
in the feld of rehabilitation counseling. For many years, the importance of taking a holistic
approach to rehabilitation counseling has been noted, and the inclusion of sex and sexuality
issues is essential to such an approach [1]. Despite this, rehabilitation counselor educators
and researchers do not have a validated means of studying the knowledge, level of comfort,
and attitudes of rehabilitation counselors towards sexuality and disability. Without such a
measure, improving rehabilitation counsellor service provision on sexuality and disability
cannot be empirically studied. However, a number of measures of these subjects exist in
* Roxanna N. Pebdani
Roxanna.Pebdani@Sydney.edu.au
Elina Saeki
ESaeki@calstatela.edu
1
University of Sydney, 75 East Street, Lidcombe, NSW 2141, Australia
2
California State University, Los Angeles, 5151 State University Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90032, USA