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Cycles of shame: menstrual shame, body shame, and sexual decision-making

Journal of Sex Research, Nov, 2005 by Deborah Schooler, L. Monique Ward, Ann Merriweather, Allison S. Caruthers

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Path Analysis

With all three paths of the mediated model confirmed, we used structural equation modeling to determine whether body shame fully mediated the relationship between menstrual shame and sexual decision-making. Our theoretical model is shown in Figure 1. The two menstrual attitude subscales--Negative Feelings about Menstruation and Openness about Menstruation--are included as measurements of the latent construct Menstrual Shame. These two subscales were combined because of high intercorrelation (r = .40), and because together they capture the two relevant dimensions of shame, a negative evaluation of menstruation and a belief that menstruation should be kept secret. The latent construct of Body Shame is measured by two scales, the BCBM and the BISC. As with the indicators of menstrual shame, these two measures are highly intercorrelated (r = -.69), and they assess satisfaction with one's body along with comfort in having it seen. The latent construct of Sexual Risk is also measured by two scales: risky sexual behavior and condom use self-efficacy. Each of the latent constructs was scaled by setting the path to one indicator equal to 1. Assertiveness and Sexual Experience are measured by only one scale each and are therefore included in the model as manifest variables.

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[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

The hypothesized relations among the variables are represented by Paths A through E Path A indicates that Menstrual Shame directly predicts Body Shame. Sexual Assertiveness and the two sexual behavior variables are each predicted by Body Shame, as indicated by Paths B, C, and D. Furthermore, because Sexual Assertiveness is expected to influence sexual behaviors, each of the sexual behavior variables is also predicted by Sexual Assertiveness, as indicated by Paths E and F. As hypothesized, in this model there are no direct relations between Menstrual Shame and the sexual outcomes. Correlated errors between Sexual Experience and Sexual Risk reflect the other common predictors of these sexual outcomes that are not included in this model. Additionally, two demographic variables, being Asian and Religiosity, were selected for inclusion based on their influence on multiple outcome variables. These two variables were included as manifest variables and as correlates, and were allowed to predict all variables in the structural model. The paths from these two demographic variables are represented as dotted lines in the model. A correlation matrix of all included manifest variables is included in Table 2.

We evaluated our first model using Amos 4.0 (Arbuckle & Wothke, 1999). Missing data were estimated with the full maximum likelihood method in Amos. As goodness of fit measures, we included [chi square], comparative fit index (CFI), and root-mean-square error of approximation (RMSEA). A model that fits the data will have a non-significant [chi square], a CFI greater than .90, and a RMSEA less than .05. Probability of close fit (pclose) was also included as a significance test that RMSEA is not larger than .05. The initial model fit the data very well, [chi square] (20, N = 199) = 19.4, ns, comparative fit index (CFI) = 1.000, root-mean-square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.000, probability of close fit (pclose) = .89. Some of the paths, however, were not significant.

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Cycles of shame: menstrual shame, body shame, and sexual decision-making

Journal of Sex Research, Nov, 2005 by Deborah Schooler, L. Monique Ward, Ann Merriweather, Allison S. Caruthers

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