People struggling with sex addiction have a harder time controlling their emotions, a new study suggests.
- 5 to 10% of French people suffer from a sex addiction.
- This pathology was officially recognized recently by the WHO.
- A new study has found that people with sex addictions tend to have more difficulty controlling their emotions when they are upset.
A study reveals that people with sex addictions tend to have more difficulty controlling their emotions when they are upset.
The article delivering these conclusions was published in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior.
What is sex addiction?
Unlike healthy sexual expression, sex addiction is often driven by a need to escape discomfort or emotional stress rather than a desire for intimacy or pleasure.
Sexual acting out is considered a psychiatric disorder when this behavior becomes all-consuming and interferes substantially with daily life. According to the World Health Organization and the DSM-5 (fifth and final edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and Psychiatric Disorders), which recently recognized it as a real illness, addiction to sex is “characterized by an intense loss of control to resist repetitive sexual impulses or urges, generating stress and impairment,” in the individual concerned.
The role of emotions in sex addiction
The study involved 915 American workers who each received $5 for completing the survey. The average age of participants was 39 years, ranging from 18 to 72 years, and 45% of them were women.
The participants were subjected to various evaluations:
– assessment of sex addiction (Compulsive Sexual Behavior Inventory-13) ;
– assessment of religiosity;
– assessment of emotional attachment (Attachment Style Questionnaire) ;
– assessment of difficulties regulating emotions (Difficulties with Emotion Regulation Scale).
The results showed that non-heterosexual people and those who were more religious seemed more prone to compulsive sexual behavior.
Compulsive sexual behaviors have also been positively associated with difficulties regulating emotions.
People with more pronounced compulsive sexual behaviors also tend to exhibit anxiety and avoidance.
“Future research on sex addiction should consider the significant role of vulnerabilities in emotion regulation,” conclude the authors of the study.
Sex addiction affects 5 to 10% of the population.
