Date Approved

2017

Degree Type

Open Access Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department or School

Psychology

Committee Member

Natalie Dove, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Tamara Loverich, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Stephen Jefferson, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Gregory Pouliot, Ph.D.

Abstract

Sexual addiction has long been a controversial topic, and it has become no less tendentious with its latest incarnation as Internet cybersexual addiction, i.e., the addiction to sexual materials on the Internet. As cybersexual addiction is a relatively recent phenomenon, it is important to have adequate measures to assess the behavior and provide empirical support for diagnostic criteria. While a number of measures are used in the research, none of the measures are based on the currently proposed diagnostic criteria. This study aimed to develop a new measure of cybersexual addiction based on the proposed hypersexual disorder diagnostic criteria and to better understand the relationship between cybersexual addiction, shame, loneliness, anxiety, depression, offline sexual addiction behavior, and Internet addiction. This study provides support for the use of two already established measures. Further, shame, loneliness, sexual compulsivity, and compulsive Internet use were all found to predict cybersexual behavior, whereas substance abuse was inversely related to the behavior. Finally, a model of the predictive correlates found that sexual compulsivity, compulsive Internet use, and depression provided the strongest predictive value. The results imply that additional validation is needed for the Problematic Cybersexual Behavior Scale and the Internet Sex Screening Test for use across general samples. Further, the model of prediction provides support for the role of offline sexual addiction in the development of cybersexual addiction.

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