A Longitudinal Study of Adolescents’ Pornography Use Frequency, Motivations, and Problematic Use Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, an increase in pornography use has been reported based on cross-sectional findings, raising concerns about associated adverse outcomes, such as problematic pornography use (PPU). The aims of the present study were to document potential changes in adolescents' pornography use frequency, motivations, and PPU before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of an ongoing study on adolescents' sexual health, we used a large sample (N Time 1 = 1771; 47.6% girls, M age = 15.42 years, SD = 0.59) to examine changes from baseline (before the COVID-19 pandemic) to one year later (during the COVID-19 pandemic) in adolescents' self-reported pornography use frequency, motivations, and PPU, using latent change models and examining potential gender differences. No significant changes were observed in adolescents' pornography use frequency and pornography use motivations, and no gender differences were present in these trends. Although statistically significant, slight decrease was observed in boys' PPU levels, and a statistically significant, slight increase was observed in girls' PPU levels, these changes were very small, providing no practical or clinical relevance. In sum, despite previous propositions, concerns, and cross-sectional findings, longitudinal results suggest that adolescents' pornography use characteristics were rather stable between November 2019 and June 2021, and the COVID-19 pandemic and related lockdowns might not have led to general increases in adolescents' pornography use as it was expected.

No Significant Changes in Addictive and Problematic Behaviors During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Related Lockdowns: A Three-Wave Longitudinal Study

“…Problematic pornography use did not change in the case of women, and decreased over time in the case of men between August of 2019 and October of 2020 ( Grubbs et al, 2021 ). Another repeated-measure study of adolescents’ pornography use that compared pre-pandemic and during pandemic use had similar findings ( Bőthe et al, 2022 ). Namely, neither the frequency of use, motivations, nor problematic use changed over time.…”

“…Although the use of the information and communication technology (ICT) is inevitable and provides a great solution to the current unprecedented situation (e.g., working or being taught from home), increased screen-based activities might be a risk factor for developing problematic use, or cause a relapse cycle for those who were already involved in potentially addictive behaviors ( Fineberg et al, 2018 ; King et al, 2020 ; Ko and Yen, 2020 ; Mestre-Bach et al, 2020 ; Singh et al, 2020 ; Masaeli and Farhadi, 2021 ). Although more frequent use of ICT is not a sufficient criterion for defining problems with these behaviors, using them to cope with the elevated stress levels and to avoid adverse psychological states and moods are among the strongest motivations underlying problematic and addictive behaviors ( Sinha, 2001 ; Király et al, 2015 ; Bőthe et al, 2021a , 2022 ). This phenomenon might be explained by the emotional self-medication theory ( Khantzian, 1997 ; Kor et al, 2013 ; Torres and Papini, 2016 ).…”

Problematic Internet Pornography Use and Psychological Distress among Emerging Adults in Malaysia: Gender as a Moderator

“…Furthermore, male pornography users are more likely to meet the criteria of cybersex addiction, demonstrated addiction, and compulsive sexual behaviour [ 2 ]. Past studies also found that males tend to report higher problematic pornography use [ 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 ] and compulsive IPU [ 45 ] than their female counterparts. Another longitudinal study by Bőthe et al [ 43 ] found that problematic pornography use level were significantly increased for girls, while a slight decrease was observed in boys in a comparison of before and during the pandemic.…”

“…Past studies also found that males tend to report higher problematic pornography use [ 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 ] and compulsive IPU [ 45 ] than their female counterparts. Another longitudinal study by Bőthe et al [ 43 ] found that problematic pornography use level were significantly increased for girls, while a slight decrease was observed in boys in a comparison of before and during the pandemic. However, girls were reported to have lower problematic pornography use than boys.…”

Guest Editors’ Introduction to the Special Section on the Impact of COVID-19 on Sexual Health and Behaviors

“…Although reported use of sexually explicit material did not increase significantly across the 15-month study period, girls showed a greater increase in the use of sexually explicit Internet material relative to boys. Likewise, as part of an ongoing study on sexual health, Bőthe et al ( 2022 ) documented potential changes in Canadian adolescents’ pornography use frequency, motivations, and problematic pornography use before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. They found no significant changes in adolescents’ pornography use frequency or motivations, and only very minor changes in problematic pornography use.…”