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Psychometric Properties of the Problematic Pornography Use Scale in a Japanese Sample

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Abstract

Problematic pornography use (PPU) is the inability to control the use of pornography and is considered a form of compulsive sexual behavior. It can have a negative effect on one’s life and is an important clinical and social issue. In Japan, there is no assessment tool to measure PPU and very little research has been done. The Problematic Pornography Use Scale is one of the scales assessing the severity of PPU. This study validated a Japanese version of the Problematic Pornography Use Scale (PPUS-J) and examined its psychometric properties in a sample of 1011 individuals through an online survey (502 men, 509 women; Mage = 35.9 years, SD = 13.75). The results of the confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the four factors in the original scale were consistent with the factors in the PPUS-J, and strict invariance could be assumed for male and female participants. With regard to reliability, internal consistency indices were appropriate both at the overall and subscale levels for male and female participants. The PPUS-J showed good convergent and divergent validity due to the relationship between the subscales and other measures such as the Sexual Compulsivity Scale. These results demonstrate the validity of the PPUS-J for assessing problematic pornography use in a Japanese sample. Given the paucity of studies conducted in non-Western cultures and on women, this study will be useful in advancing research on PPU across different cultures. Future studies should examine test–retest reliability of the PPUS-J and its use with clinical groups.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Editage (www.editage.jp) for English language editing.

Funding

This work was supported by grants from the Council for Addiction Behavior Studies to the first author. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Council for Addiction Behavior Studies. The funding sources had no role in the study design, collection, analysis, or interpretation of the data, writing the article, or the decision to submit the paper for publication.

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All authors contributed to the conceptualization of the research. The first author collected the data, conducted the statistical analysis, and wrote the first draft of the article. All authors contributed to and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Yushun Okabe.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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All procedures performed in this study involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional ethics review board of the Hyogo University of Teacher Education and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was implied when participants accessed the survey link.

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Okabe, Y., Ito, D. Psychometric Properties of the Problematic Pornography Use Scale in a Japanese Sample. Arch Sex Behav 51, 1221–1235 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02141-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02141-2

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