Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Department of Sociology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, Croatia.
J Sex Med. 2018 Mar;15(3):373-386. doi: 10.1016/j.jsxm.2018.01.009.
In spite of a growing interest in research on hypersexuality, consensus about its etiology and best treatment strategy has not been achieved.
To further the empirical and clinical understanding of hypersexuality by exploring the structure of its symptoms using a network analytic approach.
In 2014, an online survey advertised as focusing on Internet pornography, sexual health, and relationships was carried out among Croatian men and women aged 18-60 years (M = 31.1 years, SD = 9.67). In a sample of 3,028 participants, we applied a network analytic approach to explore the structure of hypersexuality symptoms. In the network, nodes represented hypersexuality symptoms and associated sexual behaviors, while their connections were operationalized as partial correlations. 4 Research questions were addressed: (1) does the hypersexuality network differ between genders; (2) which symptoms are centrally positioned; (3) what is the topological location of pornography use; and (4) are there distinct clusters ("communities") of symptoms in the network?
We estimated and plotted hypersexuality networks by gender using items from the Hypersexual Disorder Screening Inventory and the Hypersexual Behavioral Consequences Scale, as well as indicators of sexual desire, pornography use, sexual intercourse, and masturbation frequency.
The structure of the hypersexuality network was surprisingly similar in women and men, both in terms of symptom centrality and the clustering of symptoms. Psychological distress and negative emotions triggered by sexual fantasies and/or behaviors, together with a loss of control over sexual feelings, occupied central positions in the networks. Pornography use was located peripherally in both the men's and women's hypersexuality networks.
Psychological distress and negative emotions triggered by sexual fantasies and/or behaviors constituted the core of the hypersexuality network, which makes them potential prime targets for clinical intervention and calls for normalization of (presumably self-stigmatized) sexual expression through affirmative therapy and interventions that enhance self-care, self-compassion, and adaptive coping mechanisms.
STRENGTHS & LIMITATIONS: This is the first network analytic approach to hypersexuality. Apart from its novel insights about the structure of hypersexuality, the study employed several methods to assure reliability and robustness of findings. Considering that networks were estimated in a convenience-based community sample, the findings might not generalize to clinically distressed individuals.
Our results demonstrate the usefulness of network analytics to hypersexuality in a non-clinical sample and we encourage future clinical and longitudinal explorations of hypersexuality using this novel approach. Werner M, Štulhofer A, Waldorp L, et al. A Network Approach to Hypersexuality: Insights and Clinical Implications. J Sex Med 2018;15:373-386.
尽管人们对性欲亢进的研究兴趣与日俱增，但对于其病因和最佳治疗策略尚未达成共识。
通过使用网络分析方法探索性欲亢进症状的结构，进一步提高对性欲亢进的实证和临床认识。
2014 年，我们在年龄在 18 至 60 岁的克罗地亚男性和女性中进行了一项以互联网色情制品、性健康和性关系为重点的在线调查（M=31.1 岁，SD=9.67）。在 3028 名参与者的样本中，我们应用网络分析方法来探索性欲亢进症状的结构。在网络中，节点代表性欲亢进症状和相关性行为，而它们之间的连接则表现为部分相关。我们提出了 4 个研究问题：（1）性别是否会影响性欲亢进网络；（2）哪些症状处于中心位置；（3）色情制品使用在网络中的拓扑位置是什么；（4）网络中是否存在明显的症状聚类（“社区”）？
我们使用《性欲亢进筛查量表》和《性欲亢进行为后果量表》中的项目以及性欲望、色情制品使用、性交和自慰频率的指标，按性别估计和绘制了性欲亢进网络。在男性和女性中，无论是在症状的中心性还是症状的聚类方面，性欲亢进网络的结构都惊人地相似。性幻想和/或行为引起的心理困扰和负面情绪，以及对性感觉失去控制，占据了网络的中心位置。色情制品使用在男性和女性的性欲亢进网络中都处于边缘位置。
性幻想和/或行为引起的心理困扰和负面情绪构成了性欲亢进网络的核心，这使它们成为临床干预的潜在重点，并呼吁通过肯定治疗和增强自我关怀、自我同情和适应性应对机制的干预措施，使（可能自我污名化的）性表达正常化。
这是首次对性欲亢进进行网络分析。除了对性欲亢进结构的新见解外，该研究还采用了多种方法来确保研究结果的可靠性和稳健性。考虑到网络是在基于方便的社区样本中估计的，因此研究结果可能不适用于临床困扰的个体。
我们的结果表明，网络分析在非临床样本中的性欲亢进研究中是有用的，我们鼓励未来使用这种新方法对性欲亢进进行临床和纵向探索。Werner M、Štulhofer A、Waldorp L 等人。性欲亢进的网络方法：见解和临床意义。J 性医学 2018；15:373-386.
