The work, published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, will allow for the analysis of the relationship between the consumption of violent pornography and affective and sexual health. The first author, J. Francisco Estévez García, a professor at the UA, was responsible for the methodological design and psychometric analysis of the scale.
ISCIII researcher Belén Sanz Barbero led the team, which also includes Vanesa Pérez Martínez, Carmen Vives Cases, and Ariadna Cerdán Torregrosa from the UA, and Laura Otero García from ISCIII and CIBERESP. The study is part of a project funded by ISCIII to characterize pornography use and its association with sexual violence in young people.
Until now, studies on pornography focused on consumption frequency or problematic patterns, but there were no validated tools to rigorously differentiate the level of violence in the content. The new scale classifies content into three levels based on violence.
The validation was conducted with 2,181 Spanish young adults aged 18 to 35. The results indicate that greater exposure to violent pornography is associated with a higher probability of having experienced or perpetrated sexual violence, particularly the latter. The scale specifically measures exposure to violent content, with no significant relationship to sexual arousal or relationship enjoyment.
The team emphasizes the importance of knowing what is viewed, not just how much. The PVES is a rigorous tool for future research and for guiding prevention and affective-sexual education programs.
