The study of structural relationship between depression, and pornography consumption with mediating loneliness

Introduction: Pornography addiction is a chronic sexual phenomenon that can adversely affect mental health, sexual behavior, family, and personal relationships. This study aimed to investigate the structural relationships between depression and pornography with the mediation of loneliness in the form of a structural equation modeling. Materials and Methods: This study was a descriptive-correlational study. The statistical population included all non-native students living in student dormitories in Sari city, Mazandaran, during academic year of 2018-2019. Amongst them, 150 students were selected through convenient sampling. All participants were asked to complete Beck Depression Inventory, Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for adults and Pornography Consumption Inventory. The data were analyzed by correlation and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) methods using SPSS and Amos software. Results: The results showed that the proposed model had an appropriate goodness of fit. There was a direct relationship between depression and feeling lonely with pornography consumption and loneliness mediated the relationship between depression and pornography consumption (P<0.001). Conclusion: Consistent with conceptual model, the results revealed that depression directly and through loneliness is related with pornography in university students.