Original title: Problematic Pornography Use Among Swedish Adolescents: Characteristics and Clinical Implications
Marta Piwowar, Linda Sofia Jonsson, Marie Bladh, Åsa Landberg +2 · October 2026
Researchers surveyed 3,106 Swedish high school seniors to see how many felt unable to stop or control their pornography use. About 10.4% reported this problem, including 18.8% of boys and 3.9% of girls. Those who struggled spent more time watching pornography and saw more violent or concerning material. They were also more likely to report past abuse, mental health struggles, risky behaviors, and nonsuicidal self-injuryThe deliberate, direct destruction of one's own body tissue without intent to die..
You sit down with a giant bag of potato chips intending to eat just a few. Soon you find you cannot stop eating, even when your stomach starts hurting and you actively want to quit. You might also notice you reach for the bag most when you are already dealing with a bad day or personal stress. In this paper, researchers looked at teenagers who feel that exact loss of control with pornography, finding it tied closely to deeper personal struggles and distress.
Many adults seeking help for compulsive sexual behaviors say their issues started as teenagers. Understanding who struggles with pornography early on helps doctors and schools step in before these habits follow people into adulthood.
The study relies on self-reported data collected at a single moment in time, meaning it shows associations between struggles rather than proving that one factor caused another. Findings come specifically from Swedish high school seniors, which may not describe adolescents in other regions or age groups.
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Problematic Pornography Use Among Swedish Adolescents: Characteristics and Clinical Implications — Marta Piwowar, Linda Sofia Jonsson, Marie Bladh et al. — Archives of Sexual Behavior — doi:10.1007/s10508-026-03544-9
Abstract licence: CC BY
Explanation generated by Synthesis from the abstract — it is not the original paper.