Pornography Use, Motivational Patterns and Suicidal Ideation Among Young Adults: A Cross-sectional Behavioural Analysis

Background Pornography engagement is frequently examined through exposure-based frameworks that assume higher levels of consumption are associated with adverse psychological outcomes. Emerging evidence suggests that such engagement reflects underlying reward-processing and affect-regulation mechanisms. However, prior findings regarding its association with suicidal ideation remain inconsistent. Purpose The present study aimed to examine the association between pornography exposure, consumption motives, depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation among young adults. Methods A cross-sectional sample of 541 university students completed measures of pornography exposure intensity, pornography consumption motives, depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation. Bayesian regression analyses were conducted to examine associations between pornography use, motives, depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation. Results Depressive symptoms emerged as the most robust predictor of suicidal ideation across all models. Pornography exposure intensity demonstrated a small negative association with suicidal ideation ( β = −0.09, 94% highest density interval (HDI) [−0.15, −0.03]) after accounting for depressive vulnerability. Among motivational factors, emotional avoidance was positively associated with suicidal ideation ( β = 0.15, 94% HDI [0.06, 0.23]), whereas sexual pleasure motives were negatively associated ( β = −0.18, 94% HDI [−0.29, −0.08]) with suicidal ideation. A significant interaction was observed between depressive symptoms and sexual curiosity. Conclusion The findings suggest that pornography use is not uniformly associated with suicidal ideation. Instead, associations vary depending on various psychological factors and motives for use. As the study is cross-sectional, the findings should be interpreted as associational rather than causal. These results highlight the importance of considering emotional regulation and individual vulnerability when examining the mental health implications of pornography use.