The nexus between porn and psychosocial/psychosexual well-being among gay and bisexual men

Figures & data

Table 1. Demographics (N = 632).

Characteristic		Value
Age (years)		34.0 (IQR 28–42)
Sexual orientation	Gay	448 (70.9%)
	Bisexual	139 (22.0%)
	Queer	31 (4.9%)
	Do not know or other	14 (2.2%)
State or territory of residence	New South Wales	198 (31.3%)
	Victoria	169 (26.7%)
	Queensland	139 (22.0%)
	Western Australia	44 (7.0%)
	South Australia	36 (5.7%)
	Australian Capital Territory	24 (3.8%)
	Northern Territory	16 (2.5%)
	Tasmania	6 (0.9%)
Sex recorded at birth	Male	613 (97.0%)
	Female or other	19 (3.0%)
Ethnicity^a	European or Anglo-Saxon	430 (68.0%)
	East and South East Asia	86 (13.6%)
	Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander	53 (8.4%)
	Americas	44 (7.0%)
	Central and Southern Asia	26 (4.1%)
	Middle Eastern	17 (2.7%)
	African	12 (1.9%)
First language	English	526 (83.2%)
	Any other language	106 (16.8%)

^a Multiple selections were possible.

Note: Data presented as median (IQR) or n (%).

Table 2. Psychosocial and porn-use measurements.

Measurement		Value
Kessler-10 Psychological Distress Scale (10–50)^a		20.0 (IQR = 14–28)
Connectedness to the LGBT Community Scale (8–32)^a		18.2 (SD = 5.7)
Sex Positivity Scale (1–6)^a		5.1 (IQR = 4.5–5.5)
Sex Negativity Scale (1–6)^a		2.3 (IQR = 1.5–3.1)
Sexual Self-Esteem scale (−10 to +10)^a		5.0 (IQR = 1–8)
Last time porn used	In the past week	553 (87.5%)
	Longer than in the past week	78 (12.4%)
Frequency of porn use	More than once a day	122 (20.2%)
	About once a day	162 (26.8%)
	A few times per week	243 (38.4%)
	A few times per month	59 (9.3%)
	Less than a few times per month	18 (2.8%)
Average length of porn use (single session)	Less than 15 minutes	112 (18.2%)
	15 minutes to less than 30 minutes	221 (35.9%)
	30 minutes to less than an hour	190 (30.9%)
	One hour to less than two hours	64 (10.4%)
	Two hours or more	28 (4.6%)
Porn use statements (1 = completely disagree, 7 = completely agree)	I like types of sexual activities in porn that I wouldn’t try myself with another person	4.0 (IQR = 2–5)
	Some of the things I like to do with others do not interest me when watching porn	3.0 (IQR = 1–5)
	What I do with others is kinkier than the porn I watch	2.0 (IQR = 1–4)
	The types of porn I watch have changed over the past couple of years	5.0 (IQR = 4–6)
	I have seen things in porn that I wanted to try with another person	6.0 (IQR = 5–7)
	I have seen things in porn that I have tried with another person	6.0 (IQR = 4–7)
	The more porn I watch, the kinkier the porn gets	4.0 (IQR = 2–4)

^a Minimum and maximum values in the scales.

Note: Data presented as median (IQR), mean (SD), or n (%).

Figure 1. Relationship between frequency of porn use and length of porn use. Note: Frequency of porn use: 1 = more than once a day; 2 = about once a day; 3 = a few times per week; 4 = a few times per month; 5 = less than a few times per month.

Figure 2. Relationship between psychological distress and frequency of porn use. Note: Frequency of porn use: 1 = more than once a day; 2 = about once a day; 3 = a few times per week; 4 = a few times per month; 5 = less than a few times per month.

Table 3. Association between incidence and length of porn use with psychosocial scale measurements, porn-perception items, and selected demographics.

Item	Test statistic
	Frequency of porn use	Length of porn use
Age^a	X^2(4, 604) = 11.703, p = 0.020	X^2(4, 615) = 1.249, p = 0.870
Sexual orientation^b	p = 0.663	p = 0.430
Sex Positivity Scale^c	TJT = 57799.00, z = 0.267, p = 0.790	TJT = 64223.00, z = 1.933, p = 0.053
Sex Negativity Scale^c	TJT = 50342.50, z = −2.090, p = 0.037	TJT = 61822.00, z = 1.841, p = 0.066
Sexual Self-Esteem Scale^c	TJT = 54318.00, z = −0.388, p = 0.698	TJT = 65010.00, z = 1.471, p = 0.141
Kessler-10 Scale^c	TJT = 56462.50, z = 2.700, p = 0.007	TJT = 52427.50, z = −1.943, p = 0.052
Connectedness to the LGBT Community Scale^c	TJT = 55602.50, z = 2.244, p = 0.025	TJT = 58105.50, z = 0.846, p = 0.397
Porn Statement 1 (‘Like in porn, not in person’)^c	TJT = 55935.00, z = −0.094, p = 0.925	TJT = 59016.00, z = −1.123, p = 0.261
Porn Statement 2 (‘The more porn, the kinkier’)^c	TJT = 42078.50, z = −6.401, p < 0.001	TJT = 67454.00, z = 3.143, p = 0.002
Porn Statement 3 (‘Like in person, not in porn’)^c	TJT = 55345.50, z = 0.038, p = 0.970	TJT = 60953.00, z = 0.156, p = 0.876
Porn Statement 4 (‘Kinkier in person than watching porn’)^c	TJT = 52215.50, z = −1.604, p = 0.109	TJT = 71705.00, z = 4.995, p < 0.001
Porn Statement 5 (‘Porn has changed over time’)^c	TJT = 47327.00, z = −3.904, p < 0.001	TJT = 62702.50, z = 0.955, p = 0.340
Porn Statement 6 (‘Seen things that want to try’)^c	TJT = 50369.50, z = −2.798, p = 0.005	TJT = 61419.50, z = 0.076, p = 0.939
Porn Statement 7 (‘Seen things, did try with others’)^c	TJT = 49430.00, z = −2.984, p = 0.003	TJT = 60359.50, z = −0.239, p = 0.811

^a Kruskal–Wallis test.

^b Fisher–Freeman–Halton Exact test.

^c Jonckheere–Terpstra test.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.