Abstract
BackgroundThe sustained rise in negative mental health reports among university students is a source of continued global concern, and investigation continues into potential contributors to this rise. This includes the increased prevalence of risky sexual behaviors. Related is the increased prevalence of pornography use. Our study sought to explore the potential relationship between compulsive use of pornography and mental health in university students.MethodsOur sample consisted of university students (N = 1031; 34% male, 66% female) from Franciscan University of Steubenville, Steubenville, Ohio. An anonymous survey was sent to all students at the university over the age of 18. The survey was comprised of the following: (1) demographic questions, (2) questions on pornography use and perception, (3) a modified version of the Compulsive Internet Use Scale (mCIUS) assessing various factors associated with compulsive internet pornography use, (4) questions assessing emotional and sexual states relative to pornography use (EmSS), and (5) the 21-question version of the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21).ResultsOur results indicate that 56.6% of those surveyed reported lifetime pornography use, with a significantly higher proportion of males than females reporting such use. The majority of students reported accessing pornography through internet-related technologies. Additionally, 17.0, 20.4, and 13.5% of students reported severe or extremely severe levels of depression, anxiety and stress, respectively, with compulsive pornography use significantly affecting all three mental health parameters in both sexes. Exploratory Factor Analysis identified three factors suggesting emotional coping, dependence and preoccupation for the mCIUS items and three factors reflecting interoceptive, impotent, and extrinsic characteristics for the EmSS items. Regression analysis indicated that various demographics, items pertaining to reduced control and social impairment, and other variables pertaining to pornography use predicted mental health outcomes. Faith, morals and personal motivation were the primary variables reported to help reduce pornography use.ConclusionOur analyses indicate a significant relationship between mental health and pornography use, including behaviors reflecting behavioral addictions, highlighting the necessity for a better understanding and consideration of the potential contribution of internet pornography to negative mental health among university students.
Highlights
Mental health issues are a growing source of global concern, especially among university students, as research indicates an increasing trend in mental health issues across this population (Macaskill, 2013; Beiter et al, 2015; Bruffaerts et al, 2018; Patterson et al, 2019; Torales et al, 2019)
Research indicates an increase in the prevalence of risky sexual behaviors among university students (Tyden et al, 2012; Stenhammar et al, 2015; Ingram et al, 2019; Yang et al, 2019), which have been reported to be associated with mental health issues (Meade and Sikkema, 2007; Agardh et al, 2012; Tesfaye et al, 2019)
Given that the proportion of participants reporting lifetime pornography use was not significantly different relative to those reporting having never used pornography [χ2(1, N = 1031) = 0.0, p > 0.05 and χ2(1, N = 1031) = 0.7, p > 0.05, respectively] in online-only versus residential students, as well as those who transferred into the university relative to those who did not, the data analysis presented below does not make a distinction based on these two variables
Summary
Mental health issues are a growing source of global concern, especially among university students, as research indicates an increasing trend in mental health issues across this population (Macaskill, 2013; Beiter et al, 2015; Bruffaerts et al, 2018; Patterson et al, 2019; Torales et al, 2019). Among the reported potential correlates are finances, childhood adversity and addictive behaviors (e.g., substance, sex and internet addictions) (Weiss, 2004; Mossakowski, 2008; Opitz et al, 2009; Ljungqvist et al, 2016; Karacic and Oreskovic, 2017; Alhassan et al, 2018; Selous et al, 2019; Wang et al, 2019) These factors are observed among university students (Cranford et al, 2009; Beiter et al, 2015; Cashwell et al, 2016; Richardson et al, 2017; Karatekin, 2018; Pal Singh Balhara et al, 2019; Tangmunkongvorakul et al, 2019), in addition to other potential correlates, including academic performance, pressure to succeed and post-graduation plans (Beiter et al, 2015). Our study sought to explore the potential relationship between compulsive use of pornography and mental health in university students
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