Longitudinal study of probable compulsive sexual behavior disorder and problematic pornography use profiles: their prospective impact on psychopathology during wartime

Research has shown that compulsive sexual behavior disorder (CSBD) and problematic pornography use (PPU) are associated with mental disorders. However, less is known about how trajectories of probable CSBD and PPU prospectively contribute to the evolvement of psychopathology during a stressful period. In this study, we applied latent profile analysis (LPA) to identify distinct latent profiles of participants’ probable CSBD and PPU across 2018 and 2022, prior to the October 2023 attack in Israel (Iron Swords War), and to examine how these profiles prospectively predict the evolvement of psychopathology during wartime. A longitudinal study surveying the in a community sample of Jewish population in Israel, aged 18–70, was conducted before October 7th 2023 attack and during the subsequent war. Participants completed self-report measures of probable CSBD and PPU, psychopathology (global distress, emotional dysregulation, PTSD, anxiety, depression), and level and kind of exposure to the October 7th attack. LPA revealed four distinct probable CSBD/PPU profiles during the two pre-war waves: ‘no disorder’ (n = 952; 80.54 %),‘recovery’ (n = 138; 11.68 %),‘delayed onset’ (n = 50; 4.23 %), and ‘chronic’ (n = 42; 3.55 %). Using T3 and T4 for the trajectory results, the no-disorder group consistently demonstrated the lowest levels of psychopathology and out-of-control behaviors during wartime, while the chronic group reported significantly higher distress; differential impacts among probable CSBD/PPU trajectory groups showed that the no-disorder group reported decreasing anxiety and depression during wartime in contrast to the chronic group that experienced increased PTSD severity. This research offers a nuanced understanding of probable CSBD/PPU profiles, showing how these profiles impact the evolvement of psychopathology during wartime.