Impulsivity and emotional dysregulation in distress and self-perceived pornography addiction in romanian adults: advancing the dysregulation pathway of “the pornography problems due to moral incongruence model”

“The Pornography Problems Due to Moral Incongruence (PPMI)” is a popular theoretical model addressing negative outcomes of pornography use, through two pathways: (1) the dysregulation pathway and (2) the moral incongruence pathway. The morality pathway has been studied extensively, though the dysregulation pathway has remained underdeveloped. The current study aimed to further investigate the dysregulation pathway from the PPMI model by examining impulsivity and emotional dysregulation. This research was conducted on a sample of 1620 Romanian participants (69.1% females), aged between 18 and 74 years (M = 26.87; SD = 9.15). They completed questionnaires designed to assess dimensions of impulsivity (e.g., “negative urgency,” “positive urgency,” “sensation seeking,” “lack of premeditation,” and “lack of perseverance”), emotional dysregulation, distress, and self-perceived addiction to pornography. Findings revealed that impulsivity and emotional dysregulation relate to distress and self-perceived addiction to pornography, and that these constructs can be integrated into the dysregulation pathway of the PPMI model. This work contributes to the development of the PPMI framework, as well as to a deeper comprehension of the negative outcomes of pornography consumption.