Friday, May 20th, 2022

Dr. Paula ZeanahAt the May meeting, Dr. Paula Zeanah presented her work developing The Sexual Self-Esteem Inventory.

When she began working on the measure, much of the literature focused on the sexual activities and sexual abuse of teens; little focused on healthy sexual development, especially in women. Dr. Zeanah explained she conceptualized sexual self-esteem in teens as being based on 1) skills/experience, 2) attractiveness, 3) control, 4) moral judgment, and 5) adaptiveness. She reviewed research on the reliability and validity of the measure, as well as the updated research from the US and abroad. Research continues, and the measure is still listed in the Handbook of Sexuality-Related Measures (4th ed.).


You can learn more about Dr. Zeanah and about her scholarly work.