engleski

Turning to the virtual world: the role of attachment in problematic use of pornography

Online pornography use is highly prevalent in modern day society and its consumption rate has been steadily increasing. In most cases, viewing pornography has little or no negative impact on one's psychological well-being and has even shown some positive effects (e.g. normalizing sexuality, increased sexual knowledge). However, engaging in sexually explicit Internet content can become problematic among some individuals, marked by a loss of control over its use and functional impairments (e.g. relationship difficulties or even losing a job). Studies on problematic use of pornography are scarce, but some of them, including case studies, suggest attachment might play a role in explaining this phenomenon. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship of anxious and avoidant attachment dimensions and problematic pornography consumption on both female and male participants of different sexual orientations (heterosexual, homosexual and bisexual). In addition, various factors were taken into account, including relationship status and duration, while also controlling for the variance explained by mental health indicators (depression and anxiety). The study was conducted online among young adults in Croatia and Serbia. Problematic use of pornography was measured using the Problematic Pornography Consumption Scale (PPCS ; Bőthe et al., 2017). The results suggest that attachment avoidance and anxiety have significant predictive value in explaining problematic use of pornography and will be discussed in the context of current research on this topic. Gender differences in relation to the model will also be addressed. The implications for treatment and directions for future research are considered.

problematic use of pornography, attachment, gender, PPCS

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