{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,7]],"date-time":"2026-09-07T06:08:22Z","timestamp":1788761302689,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":47,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,7]],"date-time":"2026-09-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788739200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100021068","name":"Universidad de Las Am\u00e9ricas Ecuador","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100021068","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Loneliness is increasingly recognized as a transdiagnostic vulnerability among university students, yet the behavioral correlates associated with psychological distress remain insufficiently understood. This study examined the statistical indirect association between perceived loneliness and psychological distress via problematic pornography use among Ecuadorian university students.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      A quantitative, cross-sectional, correlational design was used with 273 students aged 18 to 29 years (\n                      <jats:italic>M<\/jats:italic>\n                      = 23.64,\n                      <jats:italic>SD<\/jats:italic>\n                      = 1.90) who reported habitual pornography use. Participants completed measures of perceived loneliness, problematic pornography use, and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress. Spearman correlations, multiple linear regression, and mediation analysis with 10,000 bootstrap resamples were conducted, controlling for age and sex.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Perceived loneliness was positively associated with problematic pornography use and psychological distress, and problematic pornography use was positively associated with psychological distress. In the multivariate model, loneliness and problematic pornography use were independently associated with psychological distress, whereas age and sex did not show statistically significant unique associations. The statistical indirect association between perceived loneliness and psychological distress via problematic pornography use was significant. The direct association between loneliness and psychological distress remained significant after the intermediate variable was included.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>These findings suggest that problematic pornography use may represent a maladaptive behavioral correlate linking perceived social disconnection with broader emotional distress. The results also emphasize that pornography consumption should not be pathologized based on frequency alone; attention should instead focus on impaired control, functional interference, and the psychological function served by the behavior. University prevention and counseling initiatives may benefit from integrating loneliness reduction, emotion-regulation skills, social connectedness, and the non-stigmatizing assessment of problematic sexual behaviors.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1950267","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,7]],"date-time":"2026-09-07T05:34:49Z","timestamp":1788759289000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Perceived loneliness, problematic pornography use, and psychological distress in Ecuadorian university students: a correlational path analysis"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Mar\u00eda Bel\u00e9n","family":"Morales-Cevallos","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Direcci\u00f3n de Investigaci\u00f3n, Universidad ECOTEC","place":["Samborond\u00f3n, Ecuador"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gonzalo","family":"L\u00f3pez-Barranco","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Direcci\u00f3n de Investigaci\u00f3n, Universidad ECOTEC","place":["Samborond\u00f3n, Ecuador"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Daniel","family":"Oleas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Direcci\u00f3n de Investigaci\u00f3n, Universidad ECOTEC","place":["Samborond\u00f3n, Ecuador"]},{"name":"Department of Social Anthropology, Basic Psychology and Public Health, Pablo de Olavide University, Dos Hermanas","place":["Seville, Spain"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jose E.","family":"Leon-Rojas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, Universidad de Las Am\u00e9ricas","place":["Quito, Ecuador"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dimitra","family":"Anastou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Mineral Resources Engineering, Technical University of Crete","place":["Crete, Greece"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jose A.","family":"Rodas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Psychology, University College Dublin","place":["Dublin, Ireland"]},{"name":"Escuela de Psicolog\u00eda, Universidad Esp\u00edritu Santo","place":["Samborond\u00f3n, Ecuador"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e0347631","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0347631","article-title":"Pornography consumption among medical students in Syria: prevalence, patterns, and predictors","volume":"21","author":"Al-Bitar","year":"2026","journal-title":"PLoS One"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"469","DOI":"10.1037\/0003-066X.55.5.469","article-title":"Emerging adulthood: a theory of development from the late teens through the twenties","volume":"55","author":"Arnett","year":"2000","journal-title":"Am. 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