Understanding Differences in Problematic Pornography Use: Considerations for Gender and Sexual Orientation

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Sexuality Studies
• Clinical Research

Background:

• Preliminary research indicates non-heterosexual individuals may view more pornography than heterosexual individuals.
• Limited research exists on problematic pornography use (PPU) differences across diverse sexual and gender identity groups.

Purpose of the Study:

• To test measurement invariance of popular problematic pornography use (PPU) scales.
• To examine mean PPU differences across heterosexual men, non-heterosexual men, heterosexual women, and non-heterosexual women.

Main Methods:

• Utilized three large archival datasets (N=1,439 to 5,859) to analyze psychometrics and group differences.
• Examined the Brief Pornography Screen (BPS), Problematic Pornography Use Scale (PPUS), and Cyber Pornography Use Inventory-4 (CPUI-4).
• Conducted confirmatory factor analyses and tested for measurement invariance across sexual orientation and gender groups.

Main Results:

• Most PPU scales demonstrated acceptable psychometric fit and measurement invariance across groups.
• Non-heterosexual men and women generally reported higher PPU than heterosexual counterparts, with some exceptions.
• Men tended to report higher PPU than women, though exceptions were noted; effect sizes varied.

Conclusions:

• The BPS, PPUS, and CPUI-4 are validated tools for measuring PPU across diverse populations.
• Findings highlight the need to consider sexual orientation, gender, and specific PPU dimensions in research and clinical practice.
• Results are generalizable due to large sample sizes, but further research on non-cisgender identities is warranted.