The Slut-Shaming Instrument
The Slut-Shaming Instrument is a 7-item adolescent-girl measure of slut-shaming victimization with preliminary validation.
Overview
The Slut-Shaming Instrument measures negative peer experiences directed at girls perceived as too sexually active, sexualized, or flirtatious, framing slut-shaming as social sanctioning for real or perceived sexual or sexualized behavior that violates gendered norms It was developed and preliminarily validated in 202 adolescent girls ages 14–17 in Québec, Canada, with later studies extending its use to related adolescent-girl and youth school-context questions.
Instrument Profile
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What it measures
Negative peer experiences tied to being seen as too sexually active, sexualized, or flirtatious.
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Target population
Adolescent girls, initially ages 14–17 in Québec.
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Initial item pool
7 items drafted from qualitative literature and expert input; 1 item later added for review before analysis.
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Retained scale
7 items after one item was dropped for low inter-item correlations.
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Factor structure
Single-factor solution; 2- and 3-factor models did not converge.
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Loadings
Factor loadings ranged 0.64–0.81.
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Internal Consistency
Cronbach’s α = 0.83
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Response scale
0 = never to 3 = more than five times.
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Scoring
Items are summed; higher scores indicate more slut-shaming experiences.
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Perpetrator data
Respondents also report the gender(s) of perpetrators.
Structure and Psychometrics
The published validation supports a unidimensional instrument rather than separate subscales. The seven retained items were analyzed as categorical because of the Likert-type response format, and model fit was acceptable for a one-factor solution: χ²(14)=24.95, p=0.04, RMSEA=0.06, CFI=0.99, TLI=0.98, SRMR=0.06.
Administration is simple self-report lifetime frequency scoring. Response options run from never to more than five times, coded 0 to 3, then summed so that higher totals reflect more lifetime exposure to slut-shaming. The paper does not report any reverse-coded items, and because seven items are each scored 0–3, the supported observed score range is 0 to 21 based on the published scoring rule.
Construct validity is supported because scores tracked conceptually related experiences, including daily slut-shaming incidents, sexual harassment, and general peer victimization. This pattern fits the broader measurement literature showing that adolescent sexual-harassment constructs need developmentally grounded, context-specific tools and often overlap with peer victimization while remaining distinguishable constructs. Item response rates and distributions are shown in the descriptive item table.
Empirical Findings
Prevalence
In the validation sample, 79.4% of adolescent girls reported experiencing at least one incident of slut-shaming during their lifetime.
Perpetrators
Among girls who reported experiencing slut-shaming, the most common pattern involved both boys and girls as perpetrators. This was followed by experiences involving mostly boys or mostly girls.
Correlates
Higher levels of reported slut-shaming were associated with having more sexual partners and experiencing greater levels of peer victimization.
Psychological Distress
Slut-shaming was significantly associated with psychological distress even after accounting for experiences of sexual harassment and other forms of victimization. This suggests that slut-shaming may represent a distinct form of peer victimization that is relevant to adolescent girls’ psychological well-being.
Subsequent Research and Publications
Subsequent Research and Publications
Publication Year
How the instrument was used
Martin-Storey A, Dirks MA, Paquette G, Boutin S, Dryburgh N, Leduc K, Bolduc M-L, Temcheff C. The Slut-Shaming Instrument: Preliminary validation, correlates, and links with psychological distress among adolescent girls. Journal of Research on Adolescence.
2023
Development and preliminary validation of the 7-item instrument in 202 Québec girls ages 14–17.
Beischel WJ, Martin-Storey A, Lemelin J-P, Boutin S, Dirks MA, Paquette G. Gender-Based Victimization and Gender Norms Among Adolescent Girls: A Latent Profile Analysis. Journal of Interpersonal Violence.
2025
Used slut-shaming alongside sexist experiences, sexual harassment, and homophobic bullying to derive high- and low-victimization profiles in 203 girls.
Martin-Storey A, Dirks MA, Exner-Cortens D, Holfeld B, Lambe LJ, Craig W. Understanding Slut-Shaming in the School Context: Evidence for a Novel Form of Bias-Based Peer Victimization. Journal of School Violence.
2026
Used slut-shaming victimization in a 1200-youth school-context study linking it to school climate and skipping school for safety concerns.
Zaine Y-LN, Martin-Storey A, Paquette G, Boutin S, Dirks MA, Temcheff CE. The Association Between Internalized Sexualization and Peer Victimization: The Moderating Role of Sexist Beliefs. Journal of Sex Research.
2026
Used the instrument as a sexuality-specific victimization outcome in 202 adolescent girls studying internalized sexualization and sexist beliefs.
Lavigne R-M, Martin-Storey A, Paquette G, Boutin S, Dirks MA, Lemelin J-P. Understanding Adolescent Girls’ Perspectives on Barriers and Facilitators to Help-Seeking for Slut-Shaming. Journal of School Violence.
2025
Did not validate the instrument, but qualitatively extended the construct to help-seeking among 19 girls ages 12–17.
Citation
Martin-Storey, A., Dirks, M., Paquette, G., Boutin, S., Dryburgh, N. S. J., Leduc, K., Bolduc, M. L., & Temcheff, C. (2023). The Slut-Shaming Instrument: Preliminary validation, correlates, and links with psychological distress among adolescent girls. Journal of research on adolescence : the official journal of the Society for Research on Adolescence, 33(4), 1447–1457.