Subscribing to adult content creator platforms linked to loneliness, dysregulated sexual behaviour

Individuals who engage with interactive, subscription-based adult content creator platforms (ACCPs) tend to be lonely and have dysregulated sexual behaviour over time, suggests a study.

In this longitudinal study, the investigators examined associations between paid engagement with ACCPs, loneliness and Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder (CSBD) in 4,363 adults assessed across five waves over approximately 2 years. At each wave, participants reported frequency of paid engagement with sexual content creators, loneliness, and CSBD symptoms.

Furthermore, baseline associations and co-development over time were examined using parallel process latent growth curve models.

In said models, higher ACCP engagement significantly correlated with increased CSBD symptoms and, to a lesser extent, loneliness at baseline. All three variables declined on average over time, but their trajectories remained significantly interconnected. Specifically, changes in ACCP engagement paralleled changes in loneliness and CSBD symptoms.

“These findings suggest that engagement with interactive, subscription-based sexual media is associated with both loneliness and dysregulated sexual behaviour over time, highlighting ACCPs as an important context for understanding contemporary patterns of sexual behaviour,” the investigators said.

“Subscription-based ACCPs (eg, OnlyFans) represent a rapidly expanding form of computer-mediated sexual media that blends monetized interaction, personalization, and ongoing engagement between users and creators, yet little is known about the psychological correlates of involvement with these platforms over time,” they said.

The study was limited by its reliance on self-report measures, a brief measure of loneliness, and a single-item measure of ACCP engagement, according to the investigators.