NCJ Number
221632
Journal
Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention Volume: 14 Issue: 4 Dated: December 2007 Pages: 257-278
Date Published
December 2007
Length
22 pages
Annotation
This study examined sexual addiction among teens.
Abstract
The relationship between drug use and risky teen sexual behavior could be conceptualized as a result of the disinhibiting effects of drugs consumed and subsequent diminished decisionmaking and judgment. Sexual abuse as a child also may facilitate compulsive sexual behavior, unprotected sexual acts as an adult, and alcohol abuse. Results reveal that sex addiction is very likely a disorder that extends across the life course beginning in adolescence as secondary sexual characteristics mature, conditional on the presence of biological and personality factors, and subjective affective discomfort, embedded within social environmental contexts that expose teens to sexually explicit stimuli, and related social learning of the reinforcing value of these stimuli. With successful outcomes of initial experiences with sex for gratification, and repetition of such experiences, the teen may bypass other more prosocial or potentially productive means of coping with one’s status quo. There are very few mental health services available at this time for teens suffering from sexual addiction. One may assume that teens with sexual addiction-related problems are seen in treatment for other problems such as for STDs, but no research exists to support this assumption at present. As the years accumulate, myriad stimuli are associated with sexual connotations, and numerous negative consequences ensue. At this point in adulthood, often after 10 to 30 years of sexual acting out, the individual may seek treatment, or be forced into treatment, that may involve lifelong attendance at 12-step meetings or therapy, and possibly drug therapy. References