The DOI matches its Crossref record; 186 of the 186 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Is Internet Pornography Causing Sexual Dysfunctions? A Review with Clinical Reports
Open accessAbstract
Traditional factors that once explained men's sexual difficulties appear insufficient to account for the sharp rise in erectile dysfunction, delayed ejaculation, decreased sexual satisfaction, and diminished libido during partnered sex in men under 40. This review (1) considers data from multiple domains, e.g., clinical, biological (addiction/urology), psychological (sexual conditioning), sociological; and (2) presents a series of clinical reports, all with the aim of proposing a possible direction for future research of this phenomenon. Alterations to the brain's motivational system are explored as a possible etiology underlying pornography-related sexual dysfunctions. This review also considers evidence that Internet pornography's unique properties (limitless novelty, potential for easy escalation to more extreme material, video format, etc.) may be potent enough to condition sexual arousal to aspects of Internet pornography use that do not readily transition to real-life partners, such that sex with desired partners may not register as meeting expectations and arousal declines. Clinical reports suggest that terminating Internet pornography use is sometimes sufficient to reverse negative effects, underscoring the need for extensive investigation using methodologies that have subjects remove the variable of Internet pornography use. In the interim, a simple diagnostic protocol for assessing patients with porn-induced sexual dysfunction is put forth.
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“However, there is no question that greatly increased opportunities to engage in sexual behaviour via the Internet without even having to leave one's home have changed the nature of these behaviours and greatly facilitated their frequent repetition 232 , therefore possibly contributing to an increase in the prevalence of compulsive sexual behaviour disorder.”
From Emerging experience with selected new categories in the ICD‐11: complex PTSD, prolonged grief disorder, gaming disorder, and compulsive sexual behaviour disorder (2022) · cites this paper as [232]
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“Park et al. (2016) suggest that a contrast effect is involved: the reaction of the dopamine system is inhibited by the failure of the real woman to match the endless novelty and availability of the on-line pornographic images.”
From A motivation model of sex addiction – Relevance to the controversy over the concept (2022) · cites this paper as Park et al., 2016
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“Park et al. (2016) review a number of studies showing this effect: erectile capacity maintained in the context of watching pornography, while erectile dysfunction is shown in the context of a real partner (Voon et al., 2014).”
From A motivation model of sex addiction – Relevance to the controversy over the concept (2022) · cites this paper as Park et al., 2016
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Citations
Cites
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Predictive reward signal of dopamine neurons
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Dysfunction of the prefrontal cortex in addiction: neuroimaging findings and clinical implications
Goldstein, R. Z., & Volkow, N. D. (2011) · Nature Reviews Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn3119 · Cited by 2,749 · cited 2×
“This mirrors abnormal prefrontal cortex functioning in individuals with addiction where increased sensitivity to addiction cues is coupled with less interest in normal rewarding activities [145].”
BackgroundOrganic Causes of Erectile Dysfunction in Men Under 40
Ludwig, W. W., & Phillips, M. (2013) · Urologia Internationalis · doi:10.1159/000354931 · Cited by 2,178
The incentive sensitization theory of addiction: some current issues
Robinson, T. E., & Berridge, K. C. (2008) · Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences · doi:10.1098/rstb.2008.0093 · Cited by 1,717
The mysterious motivational functions of mesolimbic dopamine
Salamone, J. D., & Correa, M. (2012) · Neuron · doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2012.10.021 · Cited by 1,418
Issues for DSM-V: Internet Addiction
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Research works printed but not linked: 2
- Sarracino, C., and Scott, K.M. (2009). The Porning of America: The Rise of Porn Culture, What It Means, and Where We Go from Here, Beacon Press.
- Bots, 2004, Erectile dysfunction in primary care: Prevalence and patient characteristics. The ENIGMA study, Int. J. Impot. Res., 16, 358, 10.1038/sj.ijir.3901155 · DOI
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Online Porn Addiction: What We Know and What We Don’t—A Systematic Review
de Alarcón, R., de la Iglesia, J., Casado‐Espada, N. M., & Montejo, A. L. (2019) · Journal of Clinical Medicine · doi:10.3390/jcm8010091 · Cited by 306
Reed, G. M., First, M. B., Billieux, J., Cloitre, M., Briken, P., Achab, S., Brewin, C. R., King, D. L., Kraus, S. W., & Bryant, R. A. (2022) · World Psychiatry · doi:10.1002/wps.20960 · Cited by 182
Psychometric instruments for problematic pornography use: A systematic review
Fernandez, D. P., & Griffiths, M. D. (2021) · Evaluation & the Health Professions · doi:10.1177/0163278719861688 · Cited by 126
Dwulit, A. D., & Rzymski, P. (2019) · Journal of Clinical Medicine · doi:10.3390/jcm8070914 · Cited by 107
Dwulit, A. D., & Rzymski, P. (2019) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph16101861 · Cited by 95
Metadata
- Authors
- Park, B., Wilson, G., Berger, J., Christman, M., Reina, B., Bishop, F., Klam, W., & Doan, A.
- Affiliations
- Flight Surgeon, Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 40, Norfolk, VA 34800 Bob Wilson Drive, San Diego, CA 92592, USA
- The Reward Foundation (GB)
- Naval Medical Center San Diego (US)
- Corresponding author
- Doan, Andrew
- ORCID
- Berger, Jonathan
- Venue
- Behavioral Sciences
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2016-08-05
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 17
- ISSN
- 2076-328X (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC5039517
- OpenAlex
- W2491036077
- Cited by
- 187
- References
- 186
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 28 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 29 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 32 · 2018: 17 · 2017: 12
- FWCI
- 27.22
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Update notices
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Behavioral Sciences (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Sexual function and dysfunction studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Gambling Behavior and Treatments
- Keywords
- online pornography, sexual dysfunction, erectile dysfunction, delayed ejaculation, sexual arousal, sexual conditioning, male sexual health, motivation system, diagnostic protocol, sexual satisfaction, sexual desire
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