Goodness-of-fit analysis of multiple indicators for the diagnosis of cybersex addiction

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Published: 2021-08-08
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17060/ijodaep.2021.n1.v3.2025
Keywords:
cybersex, online sexual activities, cybersex addiction, diagnosis

Main Article Content

Jesús Castro-Calvo
Salusex, Dpto. Personalidad, Evaluación y Tratamientos Psicológicos, Universitat de València.
Marta García-Barba
Salusex, Dpto. Psicología Básica, Clínica y Psicobiología. Universitat Jaume I
Verónica Cervigón-Carrasco
Salusex, Dpto. Psicología Básica, Clínica y Psicobiología. Universitat Jaume I
Rafael Ballester-Arnal
Salusex, Dpto. Psicología Básica, Clínica y Psicobiología. Universitat Jaume I

Abstract

The use of the Internet for sexual purposes (e.g., viewing pornography or sexual contact via chat or webcam) is an increasingly widespread practice. Even If in most cases this is recreational, in some cases it can become compulsive, uncontrolled and associated with functional impairment in several areas (cybersex addiction). The scales for diagnosis have been limited in identifying these patients because some diagnostic indicators have lost specificity: for example, online time for sexual purposes does not seem to discriminate problematic users due to the increasingly intensive use of cybersex. The aim of this work is to analyze the goodness of fit of different diagnostic indicators in identifying addictive consumption profiles by means of cluster analysis. For this purpose, 1000 men (18-35 years old) completed a battery of questionnaires assessing multiple indicators of consumption. The cluster analysis revealed the existence of 2 profiles: recreational users (51.8%) and possibly problematic users (48.2%). Both profiles only differed from each other in terms of perceived problematic use, overall levels of hypersexuality, score on a cybersex addiction scale, and perceived interference (ranked in order of diagnostic relevance). The fact that only two consumption profiles emerge that differ little from each other suggests that it is increasingly difficult to distinguish problematic from recreational use. This work has been supported by two research projects funded by the Universitat Jaume I of Castellón (P1.1B2012-49 and P1.1B2015-82).

Article Details

Issue

Vol. 3 No. 1 (2021): THE SEXUALITY: EXPRESSING THE DIVERSITY

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Articles
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How to Cite

Goodness-of-fit analysis of multiple indicators for the diagnosis of cybersex addiction. (2021). International Journal of Developmental and Educational Psychology. Revista INFAD De Psicología., 3(1). https://doi.org/10.17060/ijodaep.2021.n1.v3.2025

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