Studies suggesting that non-pedophilic porn users can escalate into child porn

There’s a fair amount of evidence that today’s porn is so stimulating that many users habituate to (grow bored with) whatever porn genre(s) they start with, and search for material they find more arousing. This tends to lead them to more extreme material because shock and anxiety increase arousal.

As judgment is altered during an aroused state, this escalation process can end up almost anywhere, and choices may have little to do with innate tastes. Many former porn users report that, after an uncomfortable withdrawal period where cravings for extreme material may temporarily be more intense, their tastes revert to earlier tastes. Some even lose their taste for artificial sexual stimuli entirely.

Habituation (less and less response to a drug or a stimulus) is also called “tolerance.” Tolerance is the need for greater stimulation in order to achieve the same level of arousal. With drug abusers tolerance/habituation manifests as needing higher doses to achieve the same high. This is escalation of use. With porn users, however, the “need” for greater stimulation is often achieved by escalating to new or more extreme genres of porn.

Tragically, non-pedophilic porn users have reported escalating to child pornography. These individuals, when posting comments on anonymous forums, emphatically state that they have never experienced sexual interest in contact with children.

While a tremendous amount of clinical and anecdotal evidence exists for tolerance leading to escalation in porn users, there are also a few peer-reviewed papers in support of the phenomenon. These papers are taken from this page containing over 55 studies reporting findings consistent with escalation of porn use (tolerance), habituation to porn, and even withdrawal symptoms:

Does deviant pornography use follow a Guttman-like progression? (2013). An excerpt:

The findings of the current study suggest Internet pornography use may follow a Guttman-like progression. In other words, individuals who consume child pornography also consume other forms of pornography, both nondeviant and deviant. For this relationship to be a Guttman-like progression, child pornography use must be more likely to occur after other forms of pornography use. The current study attempted to assess this progression by measuring if the “age of onset” for adult pornography use facilitated the transition from adult-only to deviant pornography use. Based on the results, this progression to deviant pornography use may be affected by the individuals “age of onset” for engaging in adult pornography. As suggested by Quayle and Taylor (2003), child pornography use may be related to desensitization or appetite satiation to which offenders begin collecting more extreme and deviant pornography. The current study suggests individuals who engage in adult pornography use at a younger age may be at greater risk for engaging in other deviant forms of pornography.

Internet pornography and paedophilia (2013) (review by UK psychiatrist) – Excerpt:

Clinical experience and now research evidence are accumulating to suggest that the Internet is not simply drawing attention to those with existing paedophilic interests, but is contributing to the crystallisation of those interests in people with no explicit prior sexual interest in children.

So why did you do it?: Explanations provided by Child Pornography Offenders (2013) – From the “Explanations provided for CP Offending” section – prolonged exposure and potential desensitization to legal pornography lead to the offender using child pornography (CP):

Progression from legal material. For nine participants, their CP offending appeared to be the result of prolonged exposure and potential desensitisation to legal pornography. Some participants provided fairly detailed responses of their journey:

“The gradual escalation from normal adult material to more extreme material (dehumanising) after first accessing the internet, that I used it to cope with emotional and stressful situations. Followed by viewing younger and younger woman, girls and preteen, i.e. child modeling [sic] and cartoons showing extreme adult and other abusive subject matter. (Case 5164)”

Again, some of the responses clearly linked back to a developing sexual interest in children, based on increasing exposure to the material…. Overall, this theme shared some similarities with the previous theme in that CP, used as a source of sexual satisfaction, acts as a potential stress reliever. However, for offenders belonging to this thematic group, CP had been approached via progression through other forms of pornography, which may still be used.

Deviant Pornography Use: The Role of Early-Onset Adult Pornography Use and Individual Differences (2016). Excerpts:

Results indicated that adult + deviant pornography users scored significantly higher on openness to experience and reported a significantly younger age of onset for adult pornography use compared to adult-only pornography users.

Finally, the respondents’ self-reported age of onset for adult pornography significantly predicted adult-only vs. adult + deviant pornography use. That is to day, adult + deviant pornography users sel-freported a younger age of onset for nondeviant (adult-only) pornography compared to the adult-only pornography users. Overall, these findings support the conclusion drawn by Seigfried-Spellar and Rogers (2013) that Internet pornography use may follow a Guttman-like progression in that deviant pornography use is more likely to occur after the use of nondeviant adult pornography.

Pornography Use by Sex Offenders at the Time of the Index Offense: Characterization and Predictors (2019) – Excerpts:

The purpose of this study was to characterize and predict sex offenders’ pornography consumption at the time of the index offense. Participants were 146 male sex offenders incarcerated in a Portuguese prison establishment. A semi-structured interview and the Wilson Sex Fantasy Questionnaire were administered.

Thus, for those individuals, pornography had a conditioning effect, making them want to try out those behaviors. This is of importance, since 45% used pornography that featured forced sex and 10% that included children at least once at the time of the index offense. It appears that for some individuals with specific characteristics using pornography may help disinhibit their sexual desires. It was not the subject of this investigation to assess what those characteristics were, but past research has delved on this matter (e.g. Seto et al., 2001)….

Contrariwise, while some studies point to the “catharsis” role of pornography as a means of relief (Carter et al., 1987; D’Amato, 2006), that does not appear to be equal for all individuals, since for some it was not enough and made them try to reproduce the visualized contents. This is of specific importance for clinicians when tailoring treatment strategies for sex offenders of child pornography, for instance, as the motivation for using pornography needs to be fully assessed beforehand. A better understanding of the dynamics surrounding pornography consumption prior to an individual’s perpetration of sexual offenses is of utmost importance, due to its relationship with sexual aggression (Wright et al., 2016) and violent recidivism (Kingston et al., 2008)….

Sexual Interests of Child Sexual Exploitation Material (CSEM) Consumers: Four Patterns of Severity Over Time (2018) – Study analyzed the evolution over time of the activity of consumers of child porn, using data extracted from the hard drives of 40 convicted individuals. Found that the most prevalent pattern was a drop in age of the person depicted and a rise in the extremeness of the sexual acts. The researchers discuss habituation and escalation, as well as the literature demonstrating that porn collectors have escalated to more extreme sexual interests than contact offenders. Excerpts:

37.5% of the collections exhibited increased severity in terms of both age and COPINE [extremeness] score: The children depicted became younger, and the acts became more extreme.

… [A second pattern was] exemplified by … an increase in the COPINE [extremeness] score and in the age of the subjects…. This pattern was present in [an additional] 20%.

… It should be noted that all the child pornography collections included mainstream pornography content.

… A second explanation that is also related to the sexual interest explanation is that collectors become habituated to low-severity pornography, which is congruent with the patterns 1, 2, and 3 of the current study. It has been suggested that habituation to pornographic content leads to boredom, which in turn impels the pornography consumer to seek out new content that is more severe…. Thus, to maintain their degree of sexual arousal, child-pornography collectors may be driven to explore other age categories and sexual acts.

…During masturbatory activities, CSEM collectors have the possibility of exploring a wider range of sexual interests than offline sexual offenders, who are limited by the  availability of victims. Consequently, they may become motivated to search for new illegal content to nourish their sexual fantasies. This explanation is in agreement with  Babchishin et al.’s (2015) meta-analysis, which reveals that online offenders have more deviant sexual interests than offline offenders.

Motivational pathways underlying the onset and maintenance of viewing child pornography on the Internet (2020) – New study reports large % of child porn (CP) users have no sexual interest in children. It was only after years of viewing adult porn, resulting in habituation to new genre after new genre, that porn users eventually sought even more extreme material, genres, eventually escalating into CP. Researchers point to the nature of internet porn (endless novelty via tube sites) as playing a substantial role in conditioning sexual arousal to the most extreme content, such as CP. Relevant excerpts:

The nature of the internet promotes non-pedophiles to eventually escalate:

Here we discuss men’s self-identified subjective motivations for the onset and maintenance of viewing CP on the Internet. We focus specifically on Internet-based sexual stimuli due to previous assertions that the Internet itself may introduce unique factors contributing to this behavior (Quayle, Vaughan, & Taylor, 2006).

Escalation as a pathway to CP use:

Several participants reported being sexually interested in pornography that they described as ‘taboo’ or ‘extreme’, meaning it fell outside the range of what they considered traditional sexual activities or behaviors. For example, Mike reported searching for “anything unusual really, as long as it wasn’t … regular looking things.” Participants often started by viewing Internet pornography on the lower end of the taboo spectrum (e.g., spanking, transvestism), and described a gradual progression to viewing more extreme sexual stimuli in response to what appeared to be habituation to these sexual activities or themes.

As shown in Figure 1, the drive to discover increasingly taboo pornography ultimately facilitated the use of CP for some participants, following their habituation to a myriad of pornographic themes, including illicit but non-pedophilic behaviors (e.g., incest, bestiality). As Jamie described, “I’d look at BDSM things, and then get to more really sadistic things and other taboos, and then eventually just kind of feel like, ‘well, again, fuck it. I’ll take the plunge’”. The fact that CP is illegal actually increased some participants’ arousal, such as Ben who explained, “I felt like what I was doing was illegal, and it gave me a tremendous rush”, and Travis, who noted, “Sometimes it felt good to do something you’re not supposed to be doing.”

Hyperfocused sexual arousal

Once in this state of hyperfocused sexual arousal, participants found it easier to justify viewing increasingly taboo and eventually illegal pornography. This finding is supported by previous research suggesting that ‘visceral’ states of arousal allow people to ignore factors that would otherwise prevent specific sexual behaviors (Loewenstein, 1996). …. Once participants were no longer in this state of hyperfocused sexual arousal, they reported that the CP they had been viewing became unappealing and aversive, a phenomenon that has also been reported by Quayle and Taylor (2002).

Seeking novelty

Participants explained that as their exposure to Internet pornography intensified, they found themselves increasingly uninterested in the genres of (legal) pornography that they had traditionally preferred. Consequently, participants began to desire and seek out sexual stimuli involving new sexual themes and activities. The Internet appeared to contribute to participants’ sense of boredom and desire for novel sexual stimuli, as the vastness of the Internet suggested the existence of an endless amount of pornography, any or all of which could be more exciting or arousing than what they were currently viewing. In describing this process, John explained:

It started just with normal adult men with women kind of thing, and it’s a bit dull, so then maybe you watch some lesbian stuff for a while, and it gets a bit dull, and then you start exploring.

Desensitization (habituation) leading to escalation:

In their attempts to find novel and sexually exciting stimuli, participants began exploring categories of pornography involving a broader range of sexual behaviors, partners, roles, and dynamics than they would previously have considered viewing. This may reflect a slight broadening of the moral or legal boundaries that a person (consciously or unconsciously) sets for themselves regarding the types of pornography they consider ‘acceptable’. As Mike explained, “You just keep crossing boundaries and crossing boundaries – [you tell yourself] ‘you’ll never do that’, but then you do it.”

The progression that Mike and other participants described suggests the possibility of a habituation effect, as many participants reported that eventually they required increasingly taboo or extreme pornography in order to achieve the same degree of arousal. As Justin explained, “I found myself kind of slipping downhill where it just, it needed to be a bigger thrill to have any sort of an impact on you.” Many participants in our study reported viewing a myriad of different types of pornography prior to seeking out CP, which is similar to previous research indicating that people with CP offenses may begin by using legal pornography and gradually progress to viewing illegal materials, possibly resulting from extensive exposure and boredom (Ray et al., 2014).

Habituation leads to CP:

As shown in Figure 1, participants often cycled between seeking novelty and habituation multiple times before they began actively seeking CP. After discovering a new and highly arousing genre of pornography, participants would spend many hours searching, viewing, and collecting stimuli of this nature, essentially ‘binge’ watching these materials.Participants explained that due to this extensive exposure, they reached a point when this genre of pornography no longer provided a strong degree of sexual arousal, causing them to resume the search for novel sexual stimuli:

I think at first, I got bored. Like, I would find a theme that I was interested in … and very easily I would get sort of, I don’t know, I’d use up the theme – I’m not interested, I’ve seen so much – and then I’d move onto more. (Jamie)

I started looking at pictures of younger [adult] women when I was first looking at pornography on the Internet, and then I just kept getting into looking at younger and younger girls, and eventually children. (Ben)

The habituation effect is well-established in other areas of psychology and has previously been discussed in relation to viewing pornography. Elliott and Beech describe this process as, “… a reduction in arousal levels to the same stimuli over repeated exposures – where, in viewing sexual images, offenders are likely to seek out novel, more extreme images over time to feed their arousal levels,” Elliott and Beech, (2009, p. 187).

As with other genres of pornography, extensive exposure to CP eventually caused most participants to describe habituating to these materials, including participants who reported a sexual interest in children (just as participants interested in adults habituated to genres of adult pornography). This often led participants to seek out CP involving younger victims and/or more graphic sexual depictions in an attempt to evoke the same degree of arousal originally experienced in response to viewing these materials. As Justin explained, “You try to look for something that will give you some spark, or some feeling, and initially, it didn’t. As you get younger and younger, it did.”

Some participants reported reaching a point where they began seeking CP involving children who would previously have been too young for them to find arousing. Travis commented, “Over time, the models did get younger … before, I would not even consider anything under 16.” It is particularly interesting that, unlike other types of pornography, participants reported continuing to view CP even after their arousal to these materials had diminished. This raises questions regarding the personal and situational factors involved in maintaining this behavior.

Sexual conditioning:

Several participants who reported no known pre-existing sexual interest in children prior to viewing CP believed that repeated exposure to these materials essentially ‘conditioned’ them to develop a sexual interest in children.

Since nearly all participants reported no desire to engage in contact sexual offenses, it is possible that this process conditioned participants to develop an interest in CP, rather than in children themselves (and by extension child sexual abuse). Participants provided varying descriptions of how they perceived this conditioning process:

It’s kind of like … when you have your first sip of gin, or whatever. You think, ‘this is horrible’, but you keep going and eventually you start to like gin. (John).

The circuits in my brain that were related to sexual arousal, the circuits that were firing when I was looking at pictures of children … years of doing that probably caused things in my brain to change. (Ben)

As their interest in CP increased, participants who had previously viewed both adult and child pornography reported finding it increasingly difficult to become aroused to sexual stimuli involving adults.

At face value, this conditioning process may seem contradictory to the experience of habituation described earlier. However, it is important to understand that for people without a sexual interest in children, the conditioning process seemed to occur between the onset of viewing CP and participants’ eventual habituation to these materials.

Their compulsion to us looks like addiction is several ways:

Perhaps one of the most interesting findings relates to participants’ described inability to ‘progress’ from CP following their habitation and diminished response to these materials. The perceived inability to desist from this behavior led some participants to regard their use of CP as a ‘compulsion’ or ‘addiction’. As Travis described:

I don’t know if there’s such a thing as an addiction…where you do something you don’t want to do, but I always found myself compulsively checking over and over again these sites … I’d be up late at night doing this, because I’d have to go back and check.

It should be noted, however, that none of the participants described true obsessive–compulsive behaviors or reported any symptoms of withdrawal upon discontinuing their use of CP, suggesting that this behavior is not an addiction in the traditional use of the term….

The search for novelty, due to habituation, was more arousing than viewing CP.

One manifestation of this ‘compulsion’ is reflected by our finding that nearly all participants, regardless of their original motivation for viewing CP, reported that the act of searching the Internet for new sexual stimuli eventually superseded the enjoyment of actually viewing these materials. Following from our proposed behavioral facilitation process, we suggest the possibility that participants began to prefer the search for CP over the act of viewing it because by the time participants reached the stage of actively seeking CP – arguably the most taboo type of pornography – they had progressed through (and habituated to) numerous genres of pornography and could no longer conceive of any sexual themes or activities that would be sufficiently taboo or extreme to evoke the intense sexual response they desired.

Consequently, we suggest that the excitement and anticipation associated with potentially discovering novel and highly arousing pornography becomes more intense than the feelings experienced in response to viewing these materials. This, in turn, is expected to fuel participants’ desire to continue seeking CP (even past the point of habituation), and an inability to find strongly arousing pornography may underlie participants’ perceived compulsion to engage in this behavior. As Dave described:

I had to flip, like from one [image/video] to another, because once I started watching one, I’d get bored and I’d have to go to another one. And that’s how it was. And it took over my life.

Attenuation of Deviant Sexual Fantasy across the Lifespan in U.S. Adult Males (2020) – Study reported that the 18–30 year-old group reported the highest mean of deviant sexual fantasy followed by those 31–50, then those 51–76 years of age. Put simply, the age group with the highest rates of porn use (and who grew up using tube sites) report the highest rates of sexual deviant fantasies (rape, fetishism, sex with children). Excerpt from the discussion section suggests that porn use may be the reason:

Additionally, a possible explanation for why those under 30 years of age endorsed more deviant sexual fantasies than those over the age of 30 could be due to increased pornography consumption among younger men. Researchers found that pornography consumption has increased since the 1970s, rising from 45% to 61%, with change over time being the smallest for older age groups for which pornography consumption decreases (Price, Patterson, Regnerus, & Walley, 2016). Additionally, in a study of pornography consumption among 4339 Swedish young adults, less than one third of participants reported viewing deviant sexual pornography of violence, animals and children (Svedin, Åkerman, & Priebe, 2011).

Although pornography exposure and usage were not assessed in the current study, those under 30 years in our sample could be viewing more pornography, as well as more deviant forms of pornography, than those over the age of 51 years as pornography usage in young adulthood has become more socially accepted (Carroll et al., 2008).

Online Sexual Offenders: Typologies, Assessment, Treatment, and Prevention (2020) – Abstract seems to be saying that non-pedophiles escalate into child pornography:

Also see this video by Noah Church: Why Would Anyone Watch Child Pornography?