Conceptualizations of Craving and the Pornography Craving Questionnaire: A Scoping Review

Research has demonstrated that craving is a salient aspect of behavioral and substance use addictions. In 2014, the Pornography Craving Questionnaire (PCQ) was published as the first comprehensive scale to assess craving for pornography. This review was undertaken to understand conceptualizations of craving in behavioral addictions and identify all research studies assessing the subjective experience of craving for pornography using the PCQ.

Craving has been conceptualized as a passionate attachment, ambivalence, and desire thinking. The PCQ has been administered in multiple studies in various countries. These investigations have indicated that the PCQ is positively related to desire thinking, passionate attachment (i.e., obsessive and harmonious passion), future pornography use (e.g., duration and frequency), mental health concerns (e.g., anger, anxiety, depression, behavioral and substance use addictions), dysfunctional coping (i.e., the tendency to use sex in response to negative mood states and stressors), and problematic pornography use.

Craving is a salient dimension of pornography use. Additionally, the PCQ appears of value to measure craving for diagnostic and outcome evaluation purposes. We recommend further evaluation of the PCQ in clinical settings to predict the course and prognosis among help-seeking patients for problematic pornography use.