Abstract

The risk of compulsive sexual behavior has increased with the spreading of COVID-19. The study aimed to examine the effect of psychological distress due to COVID-19 on compulsive sexual behavior, and to test potential moderating effects of negative beliefs about emotions and impulsivity in these relationships. For this purpose, a total of 404 adults (225 women, Mage=45.01, SDage=13.54) were recruited online, and a set of self-reported questionnaires were used to measure psychological distress due to COVID-19, negative beliefs about emotions, and impulsivity. The results indicated that COVID-19 psychological distress significantly predicted higher levels of compulsive sexual behavior. There was a significant three-way interaction of COVID-19 psychological distress × negative beliefs about emotions × impulsivity such that psychological distress predicted compulsive sexual behavior only when negative beliefs about emotions were high, and this interaction was significant only under the condition of high impulsivity. This study contributes to literature by proposing an integrated model in which emotion, cognition, and personality traits interact to predict compulsive sexual behavior under a prolonged pandemic context where the overall vulnerability of the society has increased.