re: Daniel
Too much time spent surfing Internet sex sites can
damage your mental health, a study has found.
It showed individuals who spend 11 hours or more a
week visiting such sites are more prone to psychological
difficulties such as sexual compulsivity.
It also noted differences between men and women in
how they used the Internet for sex.
While women prefer to use sex chat rooms, men enjoy
looking at pictures.
Web survey
The findings come as a result of a questionnaire posted
on the MSNBC Web site. It was completed by 13,529
individuals.
Dr Alvin Cooper, who led the
study, published his results
in the journal Professional
Psychology: Research and
Practice.
The study sought to
determine who was using the
Internet for sexual pursuits,
where they were going, what
they were doing there, and
how it was affecting their
lives.
He found that while most of
those who visit
sexually-oriented sites
without any negative impact, the sites do pose risks for
some people.
Those who spend 11 hours or more surfing sex sites
show signs of psychological distress and admit that their
behaviour interferes with some areas of their lives.
Time spent online for sexual pursuits may be an
indicator of other problems that exist in users' lives, or
may even create further dependence, according to the
study's authors.
Online survey
The study was conducted over a seven-week period
during March and April of last year. Its main findings
were:
Men are the largest consumers of
sexually-explicit material on the Internet - male
respondents (86%) outnumbered female
respondents (14%) by a ratio of six to one.
Women favour the use of chat rooms, which offer
more interaction and the development of
relationships (49% females to 23% males)
Men favour visual erotica (50% males to 23%
females)
Most individuals (64%) were either married (47%)
or in a committed relationship (17%)
Of the single individuals (36%), half were dating
and half were not
The researchers found that time spent online for sexual
pursuits was a strong predictor of both sexual
compulsivity and distress.
They said that although online sexual compulsivity is a
relatively rare condition, 8% of the survey respondents
were found to be most at risk.
This compares to the estimated 5% of the general
population who are affected by sexual compulsivity.
However, most of those surveyed (92%) spend under 11
hours a week in online sexual pursuits, and half spend
less than one hour a week for online sexually-related
activities.
Having a laugh
Most people appear to use sexual material on the
Internet as a source of entertainment more than for
sexual release and reported that online experiences
were satisfying but not particularly arousing, the
researchers said.
But honesty did suffer - 61% said they occasionally
"pretended" about their age while on the Net.
Thirty-eight per cent admitted presenting themselves as
a race different than their own.
And three out of four respondents said they were
secretive about how much time they spend online for
sexual pursuits, although 87% said they felt no guilt or
shame about the time they spent online.
Dr Cooper, of the San Jose Marital and Sexuality Centre,
said: "This study provides the first step in understanding
the common use of the Internet and can help mental
health professionals to develop guidelines to prevent,
diagnose, intervene and treat sexual compulsivity and
related disorders.
"In addition it may be useful in the identification of other
issues that may be going on in users' lives for which
they wish to escape by turning to their keyboards." |
