94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or good
Learn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish.
Find out more
ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Psychopathology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1561885
Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder: Rates and Clinical Correlates in a Community Sample
Provisionally accepted- 1The University of Chicago, Chicago, United States
- 2University of Southampton, Southampton, Hampshire, United Kingdom
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Background: This study sought to examine the rate of compulsive sexual behavior disorder (CSBD) in a sample of adults drawn from the community and its associated mental health correlates.Methods: An online survey of "Personality, Mental Health, and Well-Being" was distributed via Prolific to 300 adults aged 18 to 75 years. The survey measured a range of behaviors, such as sexual behavior, alcohol and drug use, and dimensional constructs of impulsivity and compulsivity using validated self-report instruments.Results: A total of 296 participants (54.7% female) completed the survey and were included in the analysis. The overall prevalence of probable compulsive sexual behavior disorder (CSBD) was 10.8% (n=32). Compared to adults without CSBD, those with CSBD were more likely to be younger and identify as bisexual. In addition, they were more likely to have attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and borderline personality disorder (BPD) symptoms, social media and drug use problems, and higher levels of obsessionality, trans-diagnostic compulsivity, and trans-diagnostic impulsivity. Gender, race, and alcohol use did not significantly differ between groups.Conclusion: CSBD appears to be common in adults and is equally represented in males and females. CSBD appears to have obsessive, compulsive, and impulsive traits and this may have nosological importance.
Keywords: compulsive sexual behavior, compulsivity, hypersexual disorder, impulsivity, Sex, Sexual Addiction
Received: 16 Jan 2025; Accepted: 11 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Grant, Boutouis, Collins and Chamberlain. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jon Grant, The University of Chicago, Chicago, United States
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.