Prediction of Tendency to Internet Pornography in Married Men Based on Difficulties in Emotion Regulation with the Mediating Role of Impulsivity and Experiential Avoidance

Objective: The purpose of this study was to predict tendency to Internet pornography in married men based on difficulty in emotion regulation with mediating role of impulsivity and experiential avoidance.  Method: The participants recruited via advertising banners posted on some of the most popular social networking Apps in Iran. A final sample of 123 married men in Isfahan city participated in the study. The Participants answered to Pornography Craving Questionnaire (PCQ), Short-form Version of Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS-SF), Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II) and Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-15) via the Internet. The collected data were analyzed in SPSS (v. 22) for descriptive statistics (Mean and SD) and correlation tests. For analyzing the study model, the PLS-SEM technique was performed in WarpPLS (v. 6.0). Results: the results indicated that difficulties in emotion regulation had a positive direct effect on tendency to Internet pornography (β=0.37, P<0.01). The results also revealed that impulsivity (β=0.64, P<0.01) and experiential avoidance (β=0.71, P<0.01) had mediating role between difficulties in emotion regulation and tendency to Internet pornography use. The model had a good fit with the data (AVIF=2.88, GOF=0.63, SPR=1, RSCR=1, SSR=1, NLBCDR=1). Conclusion: Difficulties in emotion regulation, impulsivity, and experiential avoidance play important roles in tendency to Internet pornography. Impulsivity and experiential avoidance as two modes of emotion regulation can mediate the relation between difficulties in emotion regulation and tendency to Internet pornography; therefore, they should be taken into consideration.