Mental Health
Military Veterans’ Psychological Distress Associated with Problematic Pornography Viewing.
Open Access: No.
Abstract
Problematic pornography use represents a common feature reported by those with compulsive sexual behavior disorder. While prior research suggests US military veterans may experience disproportional rates of problematic pornography use, few comparative studies exist. Moreover, no measurement invariance analyses between veterans and non-veterans exist on measures designed to assess problematic pornography use. The purposes of the present report were to explore whether differences exist between veteran and non-veteran men on indices of problematic pornography use, determine whether veteran status is associated with an exacerbation of psychological distress in conjunction with problematic pornography use, and establish measurement invariance psychometric data between veteran and non-veteran men on the Brief Pornography Screen (Kraus et al., 2020). We analyzed data drawn from a nationally representative panel of men from the USA (N = 658 non-veterans, N = 186 veterans). When adjusting for age, veteran men experienced significantly more problematic pornography use compared to non-veteran men. A substantial moderation effect was also evident, with veterans experiencing significantly more psychological distress associated with their problematic pornography use (β = .65) compared to non-veterans (β = .29), while adjusting for age and pornography use frequency. The Brief Pornography Screen demonstrated residual invariance (i.e., measurement equivalence of factor structure, loadings, intercepts, and errors) between veteran and non-veteran men. Clinicians working with veterans should explore how pornography use is related to their mental health. The Brief Pornography Screen is an effective tool to assess problematic pornography viewing in veteran and non-veteran men.
Relevance
This study found that problematic pornography use (PPU) “is an issue experienced disproportionately in younger veteran men.” Additionally, “average minutes per day when viewing was significantly higher in veteran men.”
The findings support the hypothesis that “PPU would be disproportionately related to increases in psychological distress in veteran compared to non-veteran men.” The findings suggest “that these men not only experience more PPU but also experience more mental health issues associated with the PPU compared to non-veteran men.”
Citation
Borgogna, N.C., Kraus, S.W. & Grubbs, J.B. (2022). Military Veterans’ Psychological Distress Associated with Problematic Pornography Viewing. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 20, 2194–2207. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-021-00508-z
