The Assessment of Withdrawal in Relation to Problematic Pornography Use
PPU
DISORDER
Withdrawal can be defined as the unpleasant affective states and/or physical reactions that occur when a substance or behavior is abruptly ceased or reduced (Griffiths, In the present study, it is posited that investigating the potential manifestation of withdrawal-related symptoms in relation to PPU is important for a few reasons. First, some limited empirical research has indicated that self-perceptions of withdrawal-like symptoms are not uncommon among individuals who have attempted to abstain from pornography. A cross-sectional survey of Polish students who were current pornography users (Second, the presence or absence of withdrawal-related symptoms in relation to PPU will inform appropriate classification of the disorder. It is worth noting that withdrawal is not considered a main component of addiction in all definitions of addiction (see, for example, Sussman & Sussman, Third, withdrawal is already an important component of existing theoretical conceptualizations of PPU within the empirical literature. A recent systematic review of PPU psychometric instruments found that items assessing withdrawal were included in nine of 22 instruments reviewed (Fernandez & Griffiths, Finally, it is worth acknowledging that negative psychological effects of abstinence may not necessarily be interpreted within an addiction framework as withdrawal symptoms. For example, heightened negative affect during abstinence could instead reflect normal, non-pathological reactions to sexual deprivation (Castro-Calvo et al., 