COMMENTS: Another Joshua Grubbs study employing the Cyber Pornography Use Inventory (CPUI-9). Important to note: Whenever Grubbs uses the phrase “perceived addiction” he really means nothing more than the total score on his CPUI-9 test, yet the test cannot actually distinguish “perceived” porn addiction from actual porn addiction. Grubbs new study confirms three points YBOP has made in other critiques of Grubbs studies:
1) Greater porn use correlated with higher scores on the CPUI-9 (“perceived addiction”):
Among those that acknowledged use perceived addiction to pornography consistently predicted greater average daily use of pornography.
2) Levels of porn use, not CPUI-9 scores, predict future use
At subsequent longitudinal follow-ups, only male gender and baseline average pornography use consistently predicted future use.
3) Most importantly, the CPUI-9 does not asses actual porn addiction or belief in porn addiction. Current study found that CPUI-9 total scores (Perceived addiction) told us nothing about future use. This Grubbs to conclude that the CPUI-9 may not always be an accurate indicator of behavior or addiction.
These findings suggest that perceived addiction to pornography is associated with concurrent use of pornography, but does not appear to predict use over time, suggesting that perceived addiction may not always be an accurate indicator of behavior or addiction.
The findings raise significant doubts about conclusions drawn from any study that has employed the CPUI-9 or relied on studies that employed it. For more see the criticisms outlined in this extensive YBOP critique.
Addict Behav. 2018 Feb 26;82:57-64. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2018.02.028.
Grubbs JB1, Wilt JA2, Exline JJ2, Pargament KI3.
Abstract
In recent years, several works have reported on perceived addiction to internet pornography, or the potential for some individuals to label their own use of pornography as compulsive or out of control. Such works have consistently found that perceived addiction is related to concerning outcomes such as psychological distress, relational distress, and other addictive behaviors. However, very little work has specifically examined whether or not perceived addiction is actually related to increased use of pornography, cross-sectionally or over time. The present work sought to address this deficit in the literature. Using two longitudinal samples (Sample 1, Baseline N = 3988; Sample 2, Baseline N = 1047), a variety of factors (e.g., male gender, lower religiousness, and lower self-control) were found to predict any use of pornography.
Among those that acknowledged use (Sample 1, Baseline N = 1352; Sample 2, Baseline N = 793), perceived addiction to pornography consistently predicted greater average daily use of pornography.
At subsequent longitudinal follow-ups (Sample 1, Baseline N = 265; Sample 2, One Month Later, N = 410, One Year Later, N = 360), only male gender and baseline average pornography use consistently predicted future use.
These findings suggest that perceived addiction to pornography is associated with concurrent use of pornography, but does not appear to predict use over time, suggesting that perceived addiction may not always be an accurate indicator of behavior or addiction.
KEYWORDS: Addiction; Longitudinal; Perception; Pornography; Religion; Technology
PMID: 29494859
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