The Short Version of the Problematic Pornography Consumption Scale (PPCS-6): A Reliable and Valid Measure in General and Treatment-Seeking Populations

ABSTRACT

To date, no short scale existed that could assess problematic pornography use (PPU) having a solid theoretical background and strong psychometric properties. Having such a short scale may be advantageous when scarce resources are available and/or when respondents’ attention spans are limited. The aim of the present investigation was to develop a short scale that can be utilized to screen for PPU. The Problematic Pornography Consumption Scale (PPCS-18) was used as a basis for the development of a short measure of PPU (PPCS-6). A community sample (N₁ = 15,051), a sample of pornography site visitors (N₂ = 760), and a sample of treatment-seeking individuals (N₃ = 266) were recruited to investigate the reliability and validity of the PPCS-6. Also, its association was tested to theoretically-relevant correlates (e.g., hypersexuality, frequency of masturbation), and a cutoff score was determined. The PPCS-6 yielded strong psychometric properties in terms of factor structure, measurement invariance, reliability, correlated reasonably with the assessed variables, and an optimal cutoff was identified that could reliably distinguish between PPU and non-problematic pornography use. PPCS-6 can be considered as a short, reliable, and valid scale to assess PPU in studies when the length of a questionnaire is essential or when a brief screening for PPU is necessary.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Supplementary material

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Notes

¹ In Sample 3, frequency of pornography use and frequency of masturbation were measured on an 11-point scale ranging from 1 = “never” to 11 = “more than 7 times a week”.

Additional information

Funding

The research was supported by the Hungarian National Research, Development and Innovation Office [Grant numbers: KKP126835, NKFIH-1157-8/2019-DT]. BB was supported by the ÚNKP-18-3 New National Excellence Program of the Ministry of Human Capacities. BB was funded by a postdoctoral fellowship award by Team SCOUP – Sexuality and Couples – Fonds de recherche du Québec, Société et Culture. ITK was supported by a Horizon Postdoctoral Fellowship from Concordia University and by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada [435-2018-0368] in the preparation of the manuscript. The funding agencies did not have input into the content of the manuscript and the views described in the manuscript reflect those of the authors and not necessarily those of the funding agencies.