Profiles of Pornography Use Based on Addictive Mechanisms and Psychopathological Features

María Hernández-Mora Ruiz Del Castillo; Philippe Bonnet; Isabelle Varescon

doi:10.1007/s11469-023-01087-x

Profiles of Pornography Use Based on Addictive Mechanisms and Psychopathological Features

Int J Ment Health Addict. 2023 Jun 2:1-13. doi: 10.1007/s11469-023-01087-x. Online ahead of print.

Authors

María Hernández-Mora Ruiz Del Castillo^{1

2}, Philippe Bonnet³, Isabelle Varescon^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Laboratoire de Psychopathologie Et Processus de Santé (URP 4057, Université Paris Cité, 92100 Boulogne Billancourt, France.
² Laboratoire Vision Action Cognition (URP 7326), Université Paris Cité, 92100 Boulogne Billancourt, France.
³ Laboratoire de Psychopathologie et Processus de Santé, Université Paris Cité(URP 4057, Université Paris Cité), 92100 Boulogne Billancourt, France.

Abstract

Studies using person-centered approaches to further explore the profiles of pornography users throw their psychiatric features are lacking. This study was designed to examine the different profiles of pornography users based on the addictive dimensions of Problematic Pornography Use (PPU) and to characterize these profiles according to psychopathological variables such as depression, anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). A sample of 1001 French adults participated to a survey containing scales related to psychopathological variables, cybersexual addiction and PPU. PPU was assessed with the French Version of Problematic Pornography Consumption Scale (Fr-PPCS-18). An Agglomerative Hierarchical Classification was performed on the basis of FR-PPCS-18. A student's t-test was used to observe PPU and psychopathological differences between profiles. Findings revealed three profiles of users: non-problematic users (66.5%), at-risk users (29.9%), and problematic users (3.6%). There were significant differences between the three profiles concerning levels of global PPU, PPU mechanisms, cybersexual addiction symptoms, ADHD symptomatology and depressive symptomatology. Results confirmed the existence of different levels of severity of pornography use corresponding to three different profiles. Also, findings revealed the influence of ADHD symptoms, obsessive-compulsive symptoms and depressive symptoms on PPU.

Keywords: Addictive Mechanisms; Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder; Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder; Problematic Pornography Use; Profile Analysis.

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