Research: Study links childhood trauma, emotional abuse to sex addiction in men
Emotional baggage is often viewed as a minor inconvenience, but a new study suggests that emotional trauma may play a bigger role in the development of addictive behaviors in men.
Conducted by associate professor Amanda Giordano, the study found that early sexual and emotional abuse were significant predictors of sex addiction in men.
“We know that childhood trauma is linked to a variety of addictive behaviors like gaming disorder, gambling disorder, social media addiction, and substance use, so we wanted to see if trauma has the same association with sex addiction among men,” said Giordano. “Our study shows that, along with sexual abuse, childhood emotional abuse is an important predictor of sex addiction among adult men. This relationship may be driven by attachment wounds and insecure attachment styles, as well as difficulties in emotion regulation.”