What drives cybersex addiction among female internet pornography users?

Women who visit Internet pornography sites are at risk of developing cybersex addiction. A comparison of the tendency toward cybersex addiction among heterosexual women who do or do not use Internet pornography and factors predictive of developing cybersex addiction are described in a study published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking website.

In "Cybersex Addiction in Heterosexual Female Users of Internet Pornography Can Be Explained by Gratification Hypothesis," authors Christian Laier, Jaro Pekal, and Matthias Brand, University of Duisburg-Essen (Duisburg, Germany), and Erwin L. Hahn, Institute for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (Essen, Germany), explore the role of anticipating and receiving sexual gratification in the development of cybersex addiction.

"The authors found that cybersex addiction in the study population of heterosexual female users is similar to that of heterosexual males," says Editor-in-Chief Brenda K. Wiederhold, PhD, MBA, BCB, BCN, Virtual Reality Medical Institute, Brussels, Belgium and Interactive Media Institute, San Diego, California. "Although the study population was only limited to individuals under 30, this helps to advance our understanding of cybersex addiction in females.

About the Journal

Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published monthly online with Open Access options and in print that explores the psychological and social issues surrounding the Internet and interactive technologies, plus cybertherapy and rehabilitation. Complete tables of contents and a sample issue may be viewed on the Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking website.

About the Publisher

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Games for Health Journal, Telemedicine and e-Health, and Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 80 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website.