Sexual Boredom Index (SBI)

Abstract

The Sexual Boredom Index (SBI; de Oliveira et al., 2025) is a concise, 6-item psychometric tool designed to quantify sexual boredom. This instrument conceptualizes boredom not as a trait, but as a temporary and context-dependent state experienced during sexual activity. The development process began with a qualitative study (de Oliveira et al., 2021) that gathered definitions of boredom directly from an online community sample, ensuring the initial items were ecologically valid.

An initial pool of 10 items was refined iteratively by a panel of three experts. The resulting scale was administered online to a diverse sample of adults across the United States. Subsequent psychometric evaluation, combining exploratory and confirmatory techniques, ultimately supported a robust, single-factor model, leading to the final retention of six items. Comprehensive reliability and validity evidence has been reported, positioning the SBI as a valuable measure for sexual health research.

Keywords

Sexual Boredom, State Measure, Context-Dependent State, Boredom, Sexual Attitudes, Sex and Gender Measures, Emotional State Measures, Psychometric Scale, Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Sexual Health.

Authors

de Oliveira, Leonor, Rham-Knigge, Ryan, Ford, Jessie, Coleman, Eli, Mark, Kristen.

Purpose

The primary function of the Sexual Boredom Index (SBI) is to provide a standardized, quantitative assessment of sexual boredom. Unlike measures focusing on long-term dissatisfaction or relationship quality, the SBI specifically targets the experience of boredom as a transient state that manifests during recent sexual activities.

This focus on the temporary, context-specific nature of the construct allows researchers and clinicians to better understand immediate emotional responses and situational factors contributing to sexual disengagement, offering greater nuance than trait-based measures alone.

Construct

The core construct measured by the SBI is Sexual Boredom, defined as a temporary, undesirable emotional state characterized by feelings of monotony, disconnection, or lack of interest experienced during sexual activity. The scale operationalizes this construct by asking participants to reflect on their sexual experiences over the immediate past month.

The development of the scale was grounded in qualitative data, ensuring that the items capture the specific language and phenomenology used by individuals to describe their experience of sexual monotony and mechanical engagement, differentiating it from other constructs like sexual dysfunction or low libido.

Validity

The SBI demonstrates robust evidence supporting its discriminant validity. Specifically, scores on the SBI show significant negative correlations with measures of sexual pleasure and general well-being, confirming that higher levels of sexual boredom are associated with poorer subjective sexual and emotional outcomes.

Furthermore, the scale exhibits a positive correlation with indicators of attention difficulties and impulsivity. This finding suggests a potential overlap or link between the experience of sexual boredom and traits associated with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), highlighting its utility in exploring clinical populations and underlying psychological mechanisms related to sexual engagement.

Reliability

The Sexual Boredom Index demonstrated strong statistical reliability, primarily through its internal consistency. The scale achieved a high Cronbach’s α coefficient of .88, which is well above the generally accepted threshold for psychological measures. This high value confirms that the six retained items consistently measure the same underlying construct of sexual boredom.

Factor Analysis

The scale development relied heavily on rigorous Factor Analysis techniques to determine the optimal structure and item set.

• Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA): An initial EFA on the 10-item pool suggested a 2-factor structure. However, two items (items 3 and 6) exhibited poor performance—characterized by low inter-item correlations and weak item-total remainder scores—and tended to load onto a separate factor. After the exclusion of these problematic items, a subsequent EFA strongly indicated that a single-factor solution was the best fit for the remaining data, with all items loading significantly above the standard .40 threshold.

• Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA): The initial CFA model, based on the 10-item set, showed inadequate fit indices. Analysis of modification indices revealed substantial covariance issues, particularly between items 9 and 10, and items 4 and 5. To improve model fit and maintain construct purity, items 10 and 5 were systematically removed. The final 6-item model demonstrated an adequate fit across most standard indices, including the Comparative Fit Index (CFI), Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI), and Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR), although the Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) was slightly below the optimal threshold.

Instrument

Test Type: Original psychometric scale.

Format: This measure employs a 5-point Likert scale, where responses range from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree).

Language Available: English.

Population Group: Human; inclusive of Male and Female gender identities.

Age Group: Adulthood (18 yrs & older), spanning Young Adulthood (18-29 yrs), Thirties (30-39 yrs), Middle Age (40-64 yrs), Aged (65 yrs & older), and Very Old (85 yrs & older).

Population Details: The SBI was initially validated on adults aged 18 to 94 residing in the United States. The study sample included individuals reporting various gender identities, ensuring broad applicability across the adult lifespan.

Test Methodology: The development and validation process included Test Validity, Discriminant Validity, Test Reliability, Internal Consistency, General Factor Analysis, Confirmatory Factor Analysis, and Exploratory Factor Analysis.

Keywords

Sexual Boredom Index, SBI, Psychometrics, State Boredom, Sexual Health Assessment, Monotony, Sexual Disengagement, Internal Consistency.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: de Oliveira, Leonor: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9903-8046

Affiliation Email addresses: Leonor de Oliveira: [email protected]

Correspondence Address: de Oliveira, Leonor: University of Minnesota, 1300 South 2nd Street, Suite 180, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, 55415, [email protected]

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

• Commercial: No

• Fee: No

• Test Year: 2025

• Permissions: Contact Publisher

Reference’s

de Oliveira, L., Rham-Knigge, R., Ford, J., Coleman, E., & Mark, K. (2025). Sexual Boredom Inventory (SBI): Development and initial validation. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 51(1), 74–84. https://doi.org/10.1080/0092623X.2024.2442944

Items of the Sexual Boredom Index (SBI)

Instructions: Please reflect on your sexual activities over the past month. Indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following statements using the scale below.

1 = Strongly disagree
2 = Disagree
3 = Neither agree nor disagree
4 = Agree
5 = Strongly agree

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1. Felt bored when having sex

2. Experienced sex as monotonous

3. Wished sex were more interesting

4. Experienced sex as mechanical

5. Felt disconnected during sex

6. Had sex because it was routine