Abstract:
Background - Pornography is the representation of sexual behavior in literature, art, sculptures,
movies, and other media to arouse sexual desire. Worldwide up to 65 percent of young adult men
report watching pornographic content at least once a week. Repeated exposure to pornography is
growing attention as a public health problem. Psychiatric comorbidities like depression, anxiety,
poorer quality of life, lower health status, addiction, premarital sex, more days that were
diminished due to mental and physical health, and even sexual dysfunction have reportedly been
linked to excessive pornography consumption
Objective - To assess the magnitude of pornography use and determinant factors and associated
psychological distress among undergraduate students at the University of Gondar, Northwest
Ethiopia, 2023.
Methodology - This study employed a convergent parallel mixed-methods research approach. For
the quantitative a stratified random sampling technique and for qualitative purposive sampling was
used to select study participants. Quantitative data was collected using a self-administered
structured questionnaire. A total of 821 students participates in the quantitative study. An in-depth
interview with a guiding question was employed for the qualitative data. Structural equation
modeling was used to assess the association. The audio-taped qualitative data were transcribed
into the English language. Then, codes were identified to come up with some categories, Finally,
a thematic analysis was done.
Result – The magnitude of lifetime exposure to pornography was found to be 55% and using a
tool pornography use in the past 12 months were 8.16%. Being male [𝛽 = 0.19 𝐶𝐼: (0.07, 0.315)],
those who had peer pressure [𝛽 = 0.29 𝐶𝐼: (0.136, 0.455)], and Substance users [𝛽 =
0.25 𝐶𝐼: (0.14, 0.35)] were some of the factors significantly associated with pornography use.
There was also a positive direct relationship between pornography use and psychological distress
and a positive indirect effect through self-perceived problematic pornography use.
Conclusion and recommendation- Around half of the respondents were exposed to pornography
in their lifetime which makes them prone to psychological distress. Creating awareness about the
effect of frequent pornography use on psychological distress is needed. And for those who had
self-perceived problematic use therapy was needed
