Publication details
Online sex addiction and its dimensions : A network perspective
| Authors | |
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| Year of publication | 2023 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | Background: This study aims to explore the dimensions of online sex addiction from a network theory perspective, that is, how Craving, Loss of Control, Mood Management, Conflict, Tolerance, and Withdrawal symptoms are mutually interconnected, and which experiences and behaviors bridge the symptom clusters. Methods: 2,518 adult internet users (Mage = 32.73; SD = 9.62; 73.2 % males) filled out the Short Internet Addiction Test Adapted to Online Sexual Activities (s-IAT-sex; Wéry et al., 2016) that captures the Craving and Loss-of-Control dimensions. Additional 15 items were developed measuring Mood Management, Conflict, Tolerance, and Withdrawal symptoms. A network model was estimated based on 27 items. Results: Craving and Loss of Control were highly interconnected, while other dimensions formed unique clusters except for Conflicts and Tolerance. The need to seek sexual stimuli elsewhere when lacking access to sexually oriented sites bridged Tolerance and other Withdrawal symptoms with s-IAT-sex. No edges between the Conflicts and Mood Management clusters were identified, while getting into trouble with the law because of online sexual activities was linked to the tolerance cluster. Conclusions: The network perspective represents a promising framework for explaining the internal structure of sex-addiction-related experiences and for testing the items that may ameliorate existing sex-addiction scales. We identified new items capturing addiction symptoms that are not included in the s-IAT-sex and that have the potential to broaden the outreach of sex addiction measurement toward key symptomatology. |
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