The Pornography Craving Experience Scale

Background:

The present work aimed at adapting and validating an instrument measuring the users’ strength of pornography craving experience (PCE-S) grounded in the framework of the Elaborated Intrusion theory of desire.

Methods:

Items from the “strength” form of the Craving Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) were adapted to pornography use and used to create the PCE-S. The instrument was administered online to 1584 adults using cyberporn (Age: M = 33.18; SD = 10.84; 63.1 % male). The participants completed an assessment of compulsive cyberporn use (CIUS adapted for cyberporn). Confirmatory factorial analysis was carried out to assess the construct structure validity.

Results:

A three-factor model (Imagery; Intensity and Intrusion) was confirmed. The instrument showed concurrent validity with the compulsive cyberporn use assessment and was able to discriminate between participants with high and those with low Compulsive Cyberporn Use scores.

Conclusions: The PCE-S which is rooted in the Elaborated Intrusion theory of desire, appears to effectively encompass essential aspects of the theory. Furthermore, it exhibits a noteworthy association with assessments related to compulsive engagement in cyberpornography.