A sample group of 19 recovering sex and porn addicts who had attended both one-to-one and group therapy at the Laurel Centre sex addiction clinic in the UK undertook an hour-long semi-structured interview relating to the usefulness of group work to their recovery. Interview data was analysed for themes and cross-referenced with Yalom’s 11 therapeutic factors of group therapy (Yalom and Leszcz, 2005). Some additional themes were also found that related specifically to the Hall Recovery Course psycho-educational programme that they each attended. Group work was found to be more important to participants’ recovery than one-to-one therapy but this was not consistent, and drawbacks to group work were also identified.

A comparative case-study method grounded in phenomenology with the use of interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) demonstrated similarities and differences between two men’s experiences with engaging in extramarital affairs who were married to women in either a monogamous or a non-monogamous union. Despite the difference in their marital arrangements, both men were unfaithful to their wives and demonstrated similar themes in their lives, which included religious obligations, communication conflicts, loss of connection in marriage, deception, sexual restriction, absent fathers, compartmentalization of sexual behavior, guilt, and addiction. Differences included how men created boundaries, emotional connections with affair partners, power differentials, and sexual experiences.

The current study examined potential roles for two types of “passionate attachment” in mediating the relationship between pornography use and sexual compulsivity. Harmonious passion (HP) occurs when a person’s sexual behavior is congruent with personal life, while obsessive passion (OP) occurs when an “uncontrollable urge” to engage in sexual activity creates conflict and interferes with functioning. We recruited 265 university men to complete questionnaires assessing demographics, pornography use characteristics, passionate attachment for pornography, and sexual compulsivity. Relationships between study variables were examined using structural path modeling analysis. HP ratings were found to significantly, though partially, mediate the relationship between ratings of weekly pornography use and sexual compulsivity. OP ratings were found to mediate fully the relationship between weekly pornography use and sexual compulsivity ratings. When a fully specified 2-mediator model was estimated, only OP remained a significant predictor of sexual compulsivity. The relationship between weekly pornography use and sexual compulsivity was fully explained by OP ratings, while HP was not found to contribute to sexual compulsivity scores, above and beyond the effect of OP. The findings that OP, but not HP, links pornography use and sexual compulsivity suggests that obsessive forms of passionate attachment may represent a target for treatment.

Pornography use is a prevalent behavior that involves individual differences in types and patterns of consumption and potential positive and negative impacts. From an individual and public health perspective, identifying possible harms associated with specific types and patterns of pornography use in specific individuals (and groups and subgroups of individuals) is of particular relevance. Given changes linked to technological advancements, pornographic material is readily accessible via the internet. As such, it is important to understand how pornography use in the current environment may be impacting individuals. This article describes the contents of a special issue focusing on pornography and places the findings within the context of the larger literature and a personal and public health framework.

The listserv of the Society for the Advancement of Sexual Health (SASH) provides opportunities for members to explore classic and emerging topics in the fields of sexual health and problematic sexual behavior. This inaugural column highlights recent discussions about solosexuality as an emerging label, a consideration of jealousy in the context of chronic betrayal, and a comparison of perspectives on the understanding and resolution of shame.

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this study was to examine the relation between shame and religiosity in secular and religious adolescents' willingness to seek help or therapy for their compulsive sexual behavior (CSB). The study population included 274 adolescents (131 boys and 143 girls), aged 14–18 (M = 16.84, SD = 1.29). By religiosity, 51.4% (n = 141) self-defined themselves as secular and 48.6% (n = 133) as religious. Questionnaires were uploaded to Qualtrics—an online platform for questionnaires. Help-seeking steps were prompted by shame. Adolescents who experienced a high degree of shame with their CSB reported greater willingness to receive help; those who reported little or no shame did not express a desire to seek help, despite their level of CSB. Among secular adolescents, but not among religious ones, shame motivated help seeking and willingness to receive help. Religious adolescents refrain from seeking help despite their shame of their CSB.

ABSTRACTWith the ubiquity of Internet access in American society comes increased access to sexually explicit materials. Although online sexual behavior is not problematic in and of itself, for some it can become compulsive and addictive. One population that may be at heightened risk for cybersex addiction is the collegiate population. We surveyed 339 students and found that 10.3% scored in the clinical range for cybersex addiction. Further, we found significant gender differences among the clinical and non-clinical range groups as males were more likely to score in the clinical range for cybersex addiction.

ABSTRACTReligious individuals in America have concerns about pornography addiction among the religious. Whereas positive associations between religiosity and online pornography use exist at the state level, associations between religiosity and online pornography consumption at the individual level are typically negative. We examined (1) reactions to, (2) perceptions of, and (3) self-report based relations between religiousness and viewing sexual content online among adult web users. Those higher in religiosity or religious fundamentalism responded more negatively to, and were less willing to accept, scientific findings demonstrating positive associations between state-level religiousness and increased viewing of sexual content online. More religious individuals were more likely to believe that moral values, race, and finances (not religion) impact the extent to which sexual content is viewed online. More religious individuals also held more negative beliefs about viewing sexual content online and perceived such viewing as more problematic than other prominent social issues (e.g., racism, gun violence). Finally, those higher in religiousness reported less viewing of sexual content online overall. Among a subset of individuals relatively high in religiosity or religious fundamentalism who reported viewing sexual content online, religiosity was associated with feeling negatively about this behavior and a self-reported motive of monitoring society's immorality.