Determination of the Optimal Cutoff Point for the ChemSex Inventory (CSI) to Assess Chemsex-Related Mental Health Risk in Men Who Have Sex with Men

Background Chemsex poses growing psychological and behavioural risks among men who have sex with men (MSM).Although the Chemsex Inventory (CSI) was developed to assess these risks, clinical cutoff points distinguishing recreationaluse from pathological patterns remain undefined. This study aimed to...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Del Pozo-Herce, Pablo [0000-0002-2652-4895], Martínez-Sabater, Antonio [0000-0002-6440-1431], Chover-Sierra, Elena Elena [0000-0002-4141-6956], Czapla, Michał [0000-0002-4245-5420], Sanchez Hernado, Beatriz, Navas-Echazarreta, Noelia, Juárez-Vela, Raúl [0000-0003-3597-2048]
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2026
País:España
Institución:Universidad de La Rioja (UR)
Repositorio:RIUR. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de La Rioja
OAI Identifier:oai:dnet:riur________::f9d1c795e73cc8285d31b92e9da2f71f
Acceso en línea:https://investigacion.unirioja.es/documentos/69c52ca902adbc22ca0c8a4a
Access Level:acceso abierto
Descripción
Sumario:Background Chemsex poses growing psychological and behavioural risks among men who have sex with men (MSM).Although the Chemsex Inventory (CSI) was developed to assess these risks, clinical cutoff points distinguishing recreationaluse from pathological patterns remain undefined. This study aimed to determine optimal CSI cutoff points to identify profilesof increased psychological and behavioral vulnerability associated with chemsex.Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in Spain between January and April 2023 with 563 MSM who reportedchemsex use within the previous 12 months. Psychometric analyses included principal component analysis (PCA) andconfirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of a second-order model with four dimensions: emotional instability, risk of psychosis,altered body perception, and suicide risk. Cutoff points were determined using the percentile-based P-score method.Results The CSI showed excellent internal reliability (Cronbach’s α=0.88; ω=0.88) and strong factorial validity (CFI=0.985,TLI=0.984, RMSEA=0.05). The second-order model fit significantly better than the first-order alternative (χ²diff=8.14;p=0.017). High-risk cutoffs were: emotional instability≥78.3, psychosis≥51.4, body-perception disturbance≥95.0, suicide risk≥75.0, and global≥66.4. About 5% of participants exceeded these thresholds, indicating elevated psychologicalvulnerability.Conclusions CSI cutoff points provide a reliable and sensitive tool for early detection of mental-health risks related tochemsex.Policy Implications Incorporating the CSI into sexual-health, primary-care, and mental-health services may enhance earlydetection of at-risk individuals and support evidence-based prevention and harm-reduction strategies.