ArticlePloS one2021
Impact of COVID-19 on pornography use: Evidence from big data analyses.
Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- Problematic Pornography Use, Mental Health, and Suicidality among Young Adults.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- Post-COVID-19 internet addiction, depression, and pornography addiction among adolescents: Findings from a nationwide study in Bangladesh.Health science reports · 2024Article
- Changes in Sexual Behavior and Satisfaction and Violent Behavior during COVID-19 Lockdown: Explorative Results from the Italian Cross-Sectional Study of the I-SHARE Multi-Country Project.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Article
- Impact of COVID-19 on adolescent sexual life and attitudes: have we considered all the possible secondary effects of the pandemic?European journal of pediatrics · 2023Review
- Use of sexual stimuli in research and clinical settings: expert opinion and recommendations.Sexual medicine · 2023Review
- Online Behaviours during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Their Associations with Psychological Factors: An International Exploratory Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has led to radical changes in social distancing awareness and affected social relationships. Owing to large-scale lockdown, home quarantine and social distancing requirements, it was anticipated that sexual activities would be severely impacted. However, retrospective self-report studies showed that pornography use and autoerotism increased during the pandemic.
aimThis study used big-data databases available on the Internet to investigate factors that modulated pornography use during the pandemic.
methodsDaily relative search volume (RSV) data from Google Trends for the period from 24 February 2020 to 13 July 2020 were extracted. Pornhub traffic data were extracted from the Pornhub Insights website, for the period from 24 February 2020 to 13 July 2020. The parameter was defined as 'percent change in traffic compared to an average day in 2019'. The number of daily new cases of COVID-19 was extracted from the database on Our World in Data. OUTCOME MEASURES: The normality of the data was examined using the Shapiro-Wilk test. All variables included in this study were non-normally distributed. Therefore, non-parametric tests or parametric tests with bootstrapping were adopted where appropriate.
resultsAccording to Google Trends, the RSV for 'pornography' increased after late March 2020, which is close to the date when the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. The number of daily new cases of COVID-19 was positively correlated with the traffic of Pornhub, a popular pornography website, and the RSV for 'pornography'. Moderation analysis demonstrated a significant main effect of daily new cases of COVID-19 and the RSV for 'social distancing' in predicting Pornhub traffic/RSV for 'pornography'. Furthermore, the RSV for 'social distancing' significantly moderated the relationship between daily new cases and Pornhub traffic/RSV for 'pornography'. A stronger COVID-pornography use association was observed with increased social distancing awareness.
conclusionIncreased pornography consumption during the pandemic was observed, and it was associated with the severity of the pandemic. Social distancing awareness could be a key factor influencing interest in and use of pornography. Further studies on the changes in sexual desire and birth-rate control are worthwhile because long-term public health may be affected by the changes in sexual behaviour during the pandemic.
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