Frequency of pornography use and sexual health outcomes in Sweden: an analysis of national probability surveys

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsxm.2021.08.003

Commentary

The purpose of this study was to assess the association between the frequency of pornography use and sexual health outcomes and the frequent use of pornography in Sweden.

The study was based on a cross-sectional analysis of 14,135 participants (6,169 men and 7,966 women) aged 16-84 years in a nationally representative Swedish survey from 2017. Logistic regression was used to assess the association between sexual health outcomes and the use of pornography more than three times per week.

Results showed that 68.7% of males and 27.0% of females used pornography. Among males aged 16-24, 17.2% used pornography daily or almost daily, 24.7% used pornography 3-5 days/week, and 23.7% used used pornography 1 to 2 days/week. Among females aged 16-24, 1.2% used pornography daily or almost daily, 3.1% used pornography 3-5 times/week, and 8.6% used pornography 1-2 times/week. The frequency of pornography use decreased with age for both men and women.

22.6% of men and 15.4% of women reported that their or their sex partners' use of pornography had a positive impact on their sex lives, while 4.7% of men and 4.0% of women reported a primarily negative impact. Variables indicating sexual dissatisfaction and sexual health problems were associated with the use of pornography more than 3 times/week.

Examples included dissatisfaction with sex life, not having sex in a preferred way, and erection problems.