Mental Health
Is scrupulosity behind the relationship between problematic pornography viewing and depression, anxiety, and stress?
Open Access: No.
Abstract
This study examined how scrupulosity, depression, anxiety, stress, and neuroticism may statistically predict problematic pornography viewing dimensions. Participants (n = 507 women and n = 250 men) responded to an online survey. Structural equation modeling indicated scrupulosity as a significant positive predictor across all problematic pornography viewing dimensions across genders. Depression was also a significant positive predictor, but only for those who use pornography to escape negative emotions, and for women with functional problems related to pornography use. The relationship between scrupulosity and functional pornography problems was significantly stronger for men. Interaction analyses suggested that low scrupulosity may buffer the relationship between mental health concerns and problematic pornography viewing in men, while high scrupulosity may exacerbate the relationship between anxiety and excessive pornography use in women. The full model accounted for 14—34% of the variance of various dimensions of problematic pornography viewing. Clinical implications and areas of further research are discussed.
Relevance
Problematic pornography use is defined as “personal/interpersonal problems associated with compulsive/addictive pornography use.” “Scrupulosity” is a psychological condition characterized by “pathological guilt and/or obsession associated with moral or religious issues.”
This study found that scrupulosity “significantly predicted” several aspects of problematic pornography use among men: functional problems (e.g., “I risked or put in jeopardy a significant relationship, place of employment, educational or career opportunity because of the use of pornographic materials”), excessive use of pornography, difficulties controlling the use of pornography, and watching pornography to avoid negative emotions. Additionally, depression among men also “significantly predicted” the use of pornography to avoid negative emotions. “For women, nearly the same relationships were found…with scrupulosity predicting functional problems, excessive use, control difficulties, and avoidance of negative emotions, and depression significantly predicting functional problems and avoidance of negative emotions.”
In sum, “scrupulosity emerged as a strong significant positive statistical predictor across all measures of problematic pornography viewing in both men and women” and “depression was a strong significant positive statistical predictor of pornography use to avoid negative emotions across men and women.”
Citation
Borgogna, N. C., Duncan, J., & McDermott, R. C. (2018). Is scrupulosity behind the relationship between problematic pornography viewing and depression, anxiety, and stress? Sexual Addiction & Compulsivity: The Journal of Treatment & Prevention, 25(4), 293–318. https://doi.org/10.1080/10720162.2019.1567410
