New Validation for the Maternal Sex During Pregnancy Scale!

Dr. Jawed-Wessel’s Maternal Sex During Pregnancy Scale (Jawed-Wessel et al., 2016) is now validated in a sample of Muslim women living in Iran (Ashrafinia, Jawed-Wessel, Haji-Maghsoudi, & Heydari, 2025). The MSP and PSP scales were originally developed and validated in a sample of 112 newly pregnant couples living in North America in 2016. Since the original publication, the scales have now been translated and validated in four samples, including Portuguese, Korean, Hispanic, and Iranian populations, and used to support over thirty other studies from all over the world.  

Ashrafinia, F., Jawed-Wessel, S., Haji-Maghsoudi, S., & Heydari, O. (2025). Investigation of the validity and reliability of the maternal sex during pregnancy scale in Muslim women [Obstetrics]. International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijgo.16193 

Hernández, N. (2019). Hispanic Maternal and Partner Atittudes Towards Having Sex During Pregnancy. In S. Jawed-Wessel, A. Kneip Pelster, & J. A. Irwin, School of Health and Kinesiology. 

Jawed-Wessel, S., Herbenick, D., Schick, V., Fortenberry, J. D., Cattelona, G., & Reece, M. (2016). Development and validation of the maternal and partner sex during pregnancy scales. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 42(8), 681–701. https://doi.org/10.1080/0092623x.2015.1113587 

Jawed-Wessel, S., Santo, J., & Irwin, J. (2019). Sexual activity and Attitudes as Predictors of Sexual satisfaction during Pregnancy: A Multi-Level model describing the sexuality of couples in the first 12 weeks. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 48(3), 843–854. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-018-1317-1 

Kim, M. J. (2020). Influence of pregnant couples’ attitudes towards sex during pregnancy on sexual function. Korean Journal of Women Health Nursing/Yeoseong Geon’gang Ganho Hag’hoeji/Yeoseong Geon-gang Ganho Hakoeji, 26(2), 161–170. https://doi.org/10.4069/kjwhn.2020.06.18.1 

Tavares, I. M., Heiman, J. R., Rosen, N. O., & Nobre, P. J. (2021). Validation of the Maternal and Partner Sex During Pregnancy Scales (MSP/PSP) in Portugal: Assessing Dyadic Interdependence and Associations with Sexual Behaviors. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 18(4), 789–799. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsxm.2021.01.184 

Tavares, I. M., Barros, T., Rosen, N. O., Heiman, J. R., & Nobre, P. J. (2021). Is Expectant Couples’ Similarity in Attitudes to Sex during Pregnancy Linked to Their Sexual Well-being? A Dyadic Study with Response Surface Analysis. The Journal of Sex Research, 59(2), 160–172. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2021.1946672 

Tavares, I. M., Rosen, N. O., Heiman, J. R., & Nobre, P. J. (2022). Biopsychosocial predictors of couples’ trajectories of sexual function and sexual distress across the transition to parenthood. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 52(4), 1493–1511. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-022-02480-8