{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,5]],"date-time":"2026-06-05T13:33:16Z","timestamp":1780666396759,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,21]],"date-time":"2021-12-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1640044800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004377","name":"hong kong polytechnic university","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["P0033496\/ZVR7"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["P0033496\/ZVR7"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004377","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004377","name":"hong kong polytechnic university","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["P0034106\/ZJMF"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["P0034106\/ZJMF"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004377","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004377","name":"hong kong polytechnic university","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["P0033824\/ZVRQ"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["P0033824\/ZVRQ"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004377","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n<jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has led to radical changes in social distancing awareness and affected social relationships. Owing to large-scale lockdown, home quarantine and social distancing requirements, it was anticipated that sexual activities would be severely impacted. However, retrospective self-report studies showed that pornography use and autoerotism increased during the pandemic.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n<jats:title>Aim<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>This study used big-data databases available on the Internet to investigate factors that modulated pornography use during the pandemic.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n<jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Daily relative search volume (RSV) data from Google Trends for the period from 24 February 2020 to 13 July 2020 were extracted. Pornhub traffic data were extracted from the Pornhub Insights website, for the period from 24 February 2020 to 13 July 2020. The parameter was defined as \u2018percent change in traffic compared to an average day in 2019\u2019. The number of daily new cases of COVID-19 was extracted from the database on Our World in Data.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n<jats:title>Outcome measures<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The normality of the data was examined using the Shapiro-Wilk test. All variables included in this study were non-normally distributed. Therefore, non-parametric tests or parametric tests with bootstrapping were adopted where appropriate.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec005\">\n<jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>According to Google Trends, the RSV for \u2018pornography\u2019 increased after late March 2020, which is close to the date when the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. The number of daily new cases of COVID-19 was positively correlated with the traffic of Pornhub, a popular pornography website, and the RSV for \u2018pornography\u2019. Moderation analysis demonstrated a significant main effect of daily new cases of COVID-19 and the RSV for \u2018social distancing\u2019 in predicting Pornhub traffic\/RSV for \u2018pornography\u2019. Furthermore, the RSV for \u2018social distancing\u2019 significantly moderated the relationship between daily new cases and Pornhub traffic\/RSV for \u2018pornography\u2019. A stronger COVID-pornography use association was observed with increased social distancing awareness.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec006\">\n<jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Increased pornography consumption during the pandemic was observed, and it was associated with the severity of the pandemic. Social distancing awareness could be a key factor influencing interest in and use of pornography. Further studies on the changes in sexual desire and birth-rate control are worthwhile because long-term public health may be affected by the changes in sexual behaviour during the pandemic.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0260386","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,21]],"date-time":"2021-12-21T18:25:05Z","timestamp":1640111105000},"page":"e0260386","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":21,"title":["Impact of COVID-19 on pornography use: Evidence from big data analyses"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1493-5002","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Way Kwok-Wai","family":"Lau","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6615-9813","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Lionel Ho-Man","family":"Ngan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Randolph Chun-Ho","family":"Chan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"William Ka-Kei","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4552-2780","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Benson Wui-Man","family":"Lau","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,12,21]]},"reference":[{"issue":"7809","key":"pone.0260386.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"465","DOI":"10.1038\/s41586-020-2196-x","article-title":"Virological assessment of hospitalized patients with COVID-2019","volume":"581","author":"R W\u00f6lfel","year":"2020","journal-title":"Nature"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0260386.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"335","DOI":"10.1016\/S2468-1253(20)30048-0","article-title":"Enteric involvement of coronaviruses: is faecal-oral transmission of SARS-CoV-2 possible?","volume":"5","author":"C Yeo","year":"2020","journal-title":"Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol"},{"issue":"6","key":"pone.0260386.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e227","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jaad.2020.03.098","article-title":"Sexual transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2): A new possible route of infection?","volume":"82","author":"A Patr\u00ec","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Am Acad Dermatol"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0260386.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"77","DOI":"10.23736\/S0391-1977.20.03207-1","article-title":"COVID-19, or the triumph of monogamy?","volume":"45","author":"A Aversa","year":"2020","journal-title":"Minerva Endocrinol"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0260386.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1431","DOI":"10.1007\/s10508-020-01757-0","article-title":"Sexual Behaviors During COVID-19: The Potential Risk of Transmission","volume":"49","author":"M Cipriano","year":"2020","journal-title":"Arch Sex Behav"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0260386.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.4081\/aiua.2020.2.73","article-title":"COVID-19 pandemic and its implications on sexual life: Recommendations from the Italian Society of Andrology","volume":"92","author":"C Maretti","year":"2020","journal-title":"Arch Ital Urol Androl"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0260386.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"309","DOI":"10.1097\/QAI.0000000000002462","article-title":"Physical Distancing Due to COVID-19 Disrupts Sexual Behaviors Among Gay and Bisexual Men in Australia: Implications for Trends in HIV and Other Sexually Transmissible Infections","volume":"85","author":"MA Hammoud","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr"},{"issue":"7","key":"pone.0260386.ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1225","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jsxm.2020.04.380","article-title":"Challenges in the Practice of Sexual Medicine in the Time of COVID-19 in China","volume":"17","author":"W Li","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Sex Med"},{"key":"pone.0260386.ref009","article-title":"To Have or Not to Have Sex? 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