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Sexual Addiction, Hypersexual Behavior and Relative Psychological Dynamics during the Period of Social Distancing and Stay-at-Home Policies Due to COVID-19
Open accessAbstract
During the COVID-19 pandemic, increased stress factors affected people’s motivations to engage in potentially addictive behaviors. Sexuality, understood as one of the psychological aspects to be investigated to explore the level of psychological well-being of a person, has suffered considerable repercussions due to the pandemic. A growing body of evidence suggests an unprecedented increase in Internet use and online pornography consumption during the pandemic. Since March 2020, during the lockdown period, Pornhub has seen a worldwide increase in pornography use of 11.6% compared to the previous average days. This research was conducted with the aim of exploring the possible increasing use of pornographic material during the lockdown period, in order to assess whether dysfunctional behaviors, such as compulsive behaviors, and thoughts of sex-related obsessives can lead to hypersexual behavior or a more severe Sexual Addiction. The individuals who participated in our research were 18 years of age or older (mean 23.1, s.d. 5.8), and 48% male and 52% females and were recruited online to complete a self-report questionnaire in the period between April 2020 and April 2021. The questionnaires were delivered via main social networks. The tool used for our survey was the SAST (Sexual Addiction Screening Test), a questionnaire including socio-demographic data and data relating to sexual practices, such as sexual orientation and time spent on the Internet for sexual activities. The results revealed significant differences concerning the various factors investigated such as loss of control, addictive symptoms and hide score.
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People with SA/CSB frequently feel out of control and unable to stop their dysfunctional sexual urges and activities.
“Despite the potentially adverse effects, people with SA/CSB frequently feel out of control and unable to stop their dysfunctional sexual urges and activities (Caponnetto et al., 2022).”
From “Your Addiction, her Sexual Suffering”—A Qualitative Inquiry into the Effects of Compulsive Sexual Behaviors on Intimate Female Partners (2025) · cites this paper as Caponnetto et al., 2022
Sexual addiction is characterized by excessive and intrusive sexual fantasies and thoughts, as well as a loss of control over one's sexual behavior.
“Sexual addiction is characterized by excessive and intrusive sexual fantasies and thoughts, as well as a loss of control over one's sexual behavior (Caponnetto et al., 2022;Carnes, 2015).”
From “Your Addiction, her Sexual Suffering”—A Qualitative Inquiry into the Effects of Compulsive Sexual Behaviors on Intimate Female Partners (2025) · cites this paper as Caponnetto et al., 2022
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Metadata
- Authors
- Caponnetto, P., Maglia, M., Prezzavento, G. C., & Pirrone, C.
- Affiliations
- University of Catania (IT)
- Corresponding author
- Maglia, Marilena
- Venue
- International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2022-02-25
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 2704
- ISSN
- 1660-4601 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC8910026
- OpenAlex
- W4214775668
- Cited by
- 15
- References
- 32
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 4
- FWCI
- 3.43
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- 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
- sexual addiction, hypersexuality, COVID-19 lockdown, social distancing, compulsive sexual behavior, loss of control, psychological well-being
- MeSH terms
- Physical Distancing, COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Adolescent, Adult, Communicable Disease Control, Female, Humans, Male, Behavior, Addictive, Policy, Pandemics
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