FW: Study shows 200,000 Internet users compulsively seek sexual material

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Fw: Study shows 200,000 Internet users compulsively seek sexual

material

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Study shows 200,000 Internet users compulsively seek sexual

material

Copyright ? 2000 Nando Media

Copyright ? 2000 Associated Press

From Time to Time: Nando's in-depth look at the 20th century

By ANICK JESDANUN

NEW YORK (March 1, 2000 1:25 a.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) - A study

released Wednesday

shows hundreds of thousands of Internet users show compulsion for porn

sites, X-rated chat rooms and

other sexual materials online.

In one of the first studies to estimate the number of " cybersex

compulsives, " researchers say it is at

least 200,000 and millions more are at risk.

" This is a hidden public health hazard exploding, in part, because very few

are recognizing it as such or

taking it seriously, " according to the psychologists at Stanford and

Duquesne universities. Their study

appears in the March issue of the journal Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity.

The researchers classified users as " cybersex compulsives " if they spent

more than 11 hours a week

visiting sexually oriented areas and scored high on a 10-item questionnaire

about relationships and

attitudes toward sex.

The researchers, led by Al , clinical director at the San Marital

and Sexuality Centre, found

evidence that compulsives have more problems with relationships and jobs

than Internet users who visit

X-rated sites casually.

" There is and should be a lot of concerns about these people, " said.

" They are developing

problems that can be serious. "

He called for more research and education. Among the topics to explore:

Whether sexual compulsion

online leads to more sex crimes offline.

Past studies examined how many people visited porn sites and how much time

they spend there. But

very few studies attempted to estimate the number of compulsives, said Mark

Wiederhold, a professor

at the California School of Professional Psychology in San Diego.

Wiederhold, who was not involved with the research, called the conclusions

conservative, but

significant, " pointing to a huge number we can't ignore. "

Wiederhold and both raised concerns about how participants were

picked. For the survey,

conducted in the spring of 1998, more than 13,500 visitors to the MSNBC news

site were asked to

answer a questionnaire. Because of such self-selection, it is impossible to

tell whether the group

accurately represents all Internet users.

Plus, participants may have lied or denied they had a problem.

The researchers tossed out incomplete responses or multiple questionnaires

that appeared to come

from the same individual. They kept 9,265 surveys from respondents ages 18

to 90.

Only 96 of these people, or about 1 percent, fit researchers' definition for

being cybersex compulsive.

Applying that percentage to 20 million people visiting sexual sites each

month, the researchers came

up with the figure of 200,000.