<p>Spotlight on Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder: A Systematic Review of Research on Women</p>

Abstract

Purpose of Review: World Health Organization recently included compulsive sexual behavior disorder (CSBD) to the upcoming 11th edition of International Classification of Diseases (6C72). Despite the potential benefits of this decision (eg, the acceleration of research in the field will allow the development of effective treatments), previous research focused mainly on men, and as a result, we do not have an accurate clinical picture of compulsive sexual behavior (CSB) among women. Therefore, in this systematic review, we aim to present available knowledge on this topical subject. Literature search was conducted in the guideline of PRISMA methodology. Studies were identified from multiple databases including Academic Search Ultimate, SocINDEX, PsycARTICLES, PsycINFO, PubMed, and MEDLINE. Out of a total of 10,531 articles identified and screened, 58 were included in this review. Included studies covered the following topics: prevalence and etiology of CSB, behavioral and cognitive processes involved, comorbidities, personality traits, psychosocial and interpersonal difficulties, traumatic experiences, and treatments. Recent Findings: Available studies indicate that CSB symptom severity is lower in women than in men. Overall, women reported consuming pornography less often than men and exhibit lower rates of feeling urges to these materials. CSB symptoms (including problematic pornography use) have been found to be positively related to trait psychopathy, impulsivity, sensation seeking, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms, obsessive-compulsive disorder, pathological buying, sexual dysfunctions, general psychopathology, child sexual abuse, while negatively related to dispositional mindfulness. Summary: Conclusions that can be drawn from prior studies are considerably limited. There are no accurate estimates of the CSB prevalence or severity among women, and studies have been mostly conducted on non-clinical populations, which has limited application for women diagnosed with CSBD.

Problematic Pornography Use in Japan: A Preliminary Study Among University Students

“…Since women in Japan may mainly use comics as pornographic material (Mori, 2017), differences in the content of pornographic material may have contributed to the gender differences observed in the results of the present study. In addition, a recent review focused on women with compulsive sexual behavior indicated that severe compulsive sexual behavior and urges to engage in pornography use are lower among women than men (Kowalewska et al, 2020). However, there is a possibility of problematic use among women, as some women reported using pornography with impaired control in the present study.…”

“…However, there is a possibility of problematic use among women, as some women reported using pornography with impaired control in the present study. Given the general dearth of research on female pornography use (Kraus et al, 2016b;Kowalewska et al, 2020), there is a need for increased focus on this issue in the Japanese context, as well as on types of sexual content that women use in particular, and women's patterns of sexual behavior.…”

Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder – the evolution of a new diagnosis introduced to the ICD-11, current evidence and ongoing research challenges

“…There are many important issues that should be taken into account in future research. The current conceptualization of CSBD is based on studies involving mostly heterosexual men, thus, we do not know the prevalence estimates, clinical patterns of sexual functioning, as well as neurobiological mechanisms of the groups such as women or sexual minorities (70). Due to the lack of scientific exploration, we cannot apply available criteria to individuals from these omitted groups.…”

Modelling the Contribution of Metacognitions, Impulsiveness, and Thought Suppression to Behavioural Addictions in Adolescents

“…Gender differences are also common in behavioral addictions. For example, research indicates that boys are exposed to pornography at earlier age than girls, consume more pornography and tend more often to self-define themselves as addicted to pornography (see [ 81 , 82 ] for a recent reviews). In addition, boys have higher attentional bias toward sexual cues and tend to have higher prevalence of CSBD (e.g., [ 5 , 29 , 83 ].…”