The Relationship between Boredom Proneness, Attachment Styles and Compulsive Sexual Behavior

Abstract

Affect regulation is associated with compulsive sexual behavior (CSB) despite ongoing debate about its inclusion in diagnostic criteria. Previous studies on two specific affect regulation constructs – boredom proneness and attachment styles – suggest that affect regulation is associated with CSB. We tested a moderation model of the effects of attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance on the relationship between boredom proneness and CSB. Results indicate that the relationship between boredom proneness and CSB is stronger at higher levels of attachment anxiety, with no interaction between boredom proneness and attachment avoidance. Overall findings support the importance of affect regulation in conceptualizing and treating CSB.

Keywords:

• Compulsive sexual behavior
• hypersexuality
• attachment styles
• boredom proneness
• affect regulation

Declaration of interest

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Minnesota Medical School and U.S. Department of Education to the University of Minnesota.