Online Sex Addiction : A Qualitative Analysis of Symptoms in Treatment-Seeking Men

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216224%3A14230%2F22%3A00126216" target="_blank" >RIV/00216224:14230/22:00126216 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.907549" target="_blank" >https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.907549</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.907549" target="_blank" >10.3389/fpsyt.2022.907549</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Online Sex Addiction : A Qualitative Analysis of Symptoms in Treatment-Seeking Men

Original language description

Background: Problematic sexual internet use has been attracting increasing research attention in recent years. However, there is a paucity of qualitative studies about how this problem manifests on a daily basis in the clinical population and whether the phenomenon should fall within the hypersexual, compulsive-impulsive, or addictive spectrums of disorders. Methods: Twenty-three semi-structured interviews, including AICA-C clinical interviews, were conducted with men who were in treatment for problematic internet sex use (aged 22–53; Mage = 35.82). The interview structure focused on the patterns of sexual behavior in question, their development, the manifestation of symptoms, and other associated psychosocial problems. A thematic analysis was applied as the main analytical strategy. Results: Typical problematic patterns included pornography use and cybersex, together with continuous masturbation for several hours several times a week. This pattern emerged relatively early in young adulthood and became persistent for years. The majority of participants fulfilled the criteria for behavioral addiction (as defined, e.g., by the components model of addiction), with loss of control and preoccupation being the most pronounced and withdrawal symptoms being the least. Together with the onset of erectile dysfunction, negative consequences were reported as being slowly built up over years and typically in the form of deep life dissatisfaction, regret, and feelings of unfulfilled potential. Discussion and Conclusion: The Addiction model is relevant for describing the difficulties in treatment-seeking men who suffer from problematic sexual internet use. However, the manifestations of the additional criteria are nuanced. In the case of negative consequences, their onset might be very slow and not easily reflected. While there was evidence of several forms of tolerance, potential withdrawal symptoms in online sex addiction need further attention to be verified.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

50101 - Psychology (including human - machine relations)

Project

—

Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2022

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Frontiers in Psychiatry

ISSN

1664-0640

e-ISSN

1664-0640

Volume of the periodical

13

Issue of the periodical within the volume

July

Country of publishing house

CH - SWITZERLAND

Number of pages

12

Pages from-to

1-12

UT code for WoS article

000831573200001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85134525805