New research suggests that ADHD symptoms may lead to hypersexuality (now called Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder in ICD-11) among both genders and to problematic pornography use among men.
ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) is a highly comorbid disorder with hypersexuality: up to 67% of individuals with hypersexuality reported some patterns of ADHD in prior studies.
Also, there was a knowledge gap regarding the associations of ADHD and problematic pornography use (that may be considered as the most prevalent manifestation of hypersexuality).
According to our results, regardless of gender, the higher the level of ADHD symptoms were, the higher the level of hypersexuality was.
At the same time, the association between ADHD symptoms and problematic pornography use was stronger in the case of men, while it was weaker in the case of women.
And inversely, when individuals seek treatment for hypersexuality, clinicians and therapists should also assess ADHD symptoms as hypersexuality may be only the symptom of the “real” problem, ADHD.
The study, “Investigating the Associations Of Adult ADHD Symptoms, Hypersexuality, and Problematic Pornography Use Among Men and Women on a Largescale, Non-Clinical Sample“, was authored by Beáta Bőthe, Mónika Koós, István Tóth-Király, Gábor Orosz, and Zsolt Demetrovics. »