Is scrupulosity behind the relationship between problematic pornography viewing and depression, anxiety, and stress?

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.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nicholas C. Borgogna

Nicholas C. Borgogna and Jessica Duncan: Department of Psychology, University of South Alabama; Ryon C. McDermott: Counseling and Instructional Sciences, University of South Alabama. We thank two additional members of the Culture and Individual Differences (CID) research team within the undergraduate Psychology program at the University of South Alabama for their help collecting data: Katelyn Baker and Davidson Meador. Correspondence may be directed to Nicholas C. Borgogna, Department of Psychology, 75 S. University Blvd., Mobile, AL 36608, [email protected].