Early sexual exposure and addictive beliefs in sexual addiction: An exploratory qualitative study

Résumé 0

Scientific literature suggests the role of cognitive-emotional vulnerabilities and belief systems in addictive behaviors in general. However, to the best of our knowledge, no study, has considered the role of dysfunctional beliefs specific to sexual addiction. Moreover, early exposure to sexuality (whether early confrontation with explicit sexual content or sexual abuse in childhood) seems to play a significant role in the development of this addiction. The aim of the present study is to explore this theme. Seven subjects, from a core sample of 398 participants recruited online, participated in a research interview. All interviews were recorded and fully transcribed. A quantitative lexical analysis was performed using Iramuteq software. Four classes of words were highlighted, encompassing 76.61% of the entire corpus. The main themes adressed were early sexual exposure, anticipatory, relief-oriented, and permissive beliefs, and the experience of sexual addiction. Our results showed the presence of these addictive beliefs in our subjects and the role of early confrontation with sexuality in the development of their addiction. Despite the small size of our group of subjects, this exploratory study allows a better understanding of sexual addiction and opens up many clinical and research perspectives.