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Cited by 69Sexuality, Behavior, and TechnologyGambling Behavior and TreatmentsImpact of Technology on Adolescents

Symptoms of cybersex addiction can be linked to both approaching and avoiding pornographic stimuli: results from an analog sample of regular cybersex users

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Snagowski, Jan, Brand, Matthias·2015·Frontiers in Psychology
DOI 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00653PMC PMC4441125
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Abstract

There is no consensus regarding the phenomenology, classification, and diagnostic criteria of cybersex addiction. Some approaches point toward similarities to substance dependencies for which approach/avoidance tendencies are crucial mechanisms. Several researchers have argued that within an addiction-related decision situation, individuals might either show tendencies to approach or avoid addiction-related stimuli. In the current study 123 heterosexual males completed an Approach-Avoidance-Task (AAT; Rinck and Becker, 2007) modified with pornographic pictures. During the AAT participants either had to push pornographic stimuli away or pull them toward themselves with a joystick. Sensitivity toward sexual excitation, problematic sexual behavior, and tendencies toward cybersex addiction were assessed with questionnaires. Results showed that individuals with tendencies toward cybersex addiction tended to either approach or avoid pornographic stimuli. Additionally, moderated regression analyses revealed that individuals with high sexual excitation and problematic sexual behavior who showed high approach/avoidance tendencies, reported higher symptoms of cybersex addiction. Analogous to substance dependencies, results suggest that both approach and avoidance tendencies might play a role in cybersex addiction. Moreover, an interaction with sensitivity toward sexual excitation and problematic sexual behavior could have an accumulating effect on the severity of subjective complaints in everyday life due to cybersex use. The findings provide further empirical evidence for similarities between cybersex addiction and substance dependencies. Such similarities could be retraced to a comparable neural processing of cybersex- and drug-related cues.

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  • In the last phase of cybersex addiction, addicts feel hopeless and cannot be helped, and withdrawal and relapse may occur.

    “In the last phase, namely the phase of helplessness, addicts feel hopeless and cannot be helped. This will then evolve into the feeling of withdrawal and relapse may also occur. 17,25”

    From Cybersex addiction: An overview of the development and treatment of a newly emerging disorder (2020) · cites this paper as [25]

    The Introduction lists withdrawal as a symptom in a working definition of cybersex addiction. It does not describe a final phase of helplessness or say that addicts cannot be helped; the Discussion mentions relapse rates only in the context of studies of approach and avoidance tendencies, not as a progression from withdrawal. The paper's stated withdrawal symptom supports only a limited part of the attributed claim. (LLM, conf=0.82)

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  • Using the Approach-Avoidance Task, Snagowski and Brand (2015) found that individuals with problematic Internet-pornography use (in an analogue sample) can be linked to both approach and avoidance tendencies, as they found a quadratic relationship in their sample of pornography users.

    “Using the Approach-Avoidance Task, Snagowski and Brand (2015) found that individuals with problematic Internet-pornography use (in an analogue sample) can be linked to both approach and avoidance tendencies, as they found a quadratic relationship in their sample of pornography users.”

    From Integrating psychological and neurobiological considerations regarding the development and maintenance of specific Internet-use disorders: An Interaction of Person-Affect-Cognition-Execution (I-PACE) model (2016) · cites this paper as Snagowski and Brand, 2015

  • Cybersex addiction symptoms usually include loss of control of oneself to perform a cybersex activity.

    “Cybersex addiction symptoms usually include loss of control of oneself to perform a cybersex activity.²⁵”

    From Cybersex addiction: An overview of the development and treatment of a newly emerging disorder (2020) · cites this paper as [25]

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Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. Marlatt G. A. (1985). “Cognitive factors in the relapse process,” in Relapse Prevention: Maintenance Strategies in the Treatment of Addictive Behaviors eds Marlatt G. A. Gordon J. R. (New York, NY: Guilford Press) 128– 200.

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Authors
Snagowski, J., & Brand, M.
Affiliations
  • University of Duisburg-Essen (DE)
  • Erwin L. Hahn Institute for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (DE)
Corresponding author
Brand, Matthias
ORCID
Brand, Matthias
Venue
Frontiers in Psychology
Publisher
Frontiers Media SA
Published
2015-05-22
Volume
6
Pages
653-653
ISSN
1664-1078 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00653
PMC
PMC4441125
OpenAlex
W1661469607
Cited by
69
References
88
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 2
FWCI
6.61
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Frontiers in Psychology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Gambling Behavior and Treatments
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
Keywords
cybersex addiction, pornography use, approach-avoidance tendencies, sexual excitation, problematic sexual behavior, substance dependency, approach-avoidance task, cue reactivity

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