| Sumario: | This study examined the relationships between symptoms of post-traumatic stress (PTS), compulsive sexual behavior (CSB), and problematic pornography use (PPU) while investigating the moderating roles of two types of lifetime trauma experiences (sexual, physical injury-related, and their combination) and gender. Using data from 2,900 American adults (52.5% men, 45.2% women, and 2.3% gender-diverse individuals), we conducted moderated linear regressions to test whether the PTS-CSB and PTS-PPU relationships varied by trauma type and gender. Findings indicated that PTS significantly and positively predicted both CSB and PPU. Originally, trauma type did not significantly moderate the PTS-CSB relationship, only the PTS-PPU relationship. However, a sensitivity analysis revealed a significant moderating effect of sexual trauma on both associations. Contrary to our hypothesis, individuals with sexual-only trauma and higher PTS indicated lower CSB/PPU scores than those with physical injury-related trauma, combined trauma, or no trauma, suggesting that sexual-only trauma may also be linked with sexual avoidance in some individuals. Gender moderated the associations, with men exhibiting higher CSB and PPU scores than women in the presence of higher levels of PTS. Implications and recommendations for future research are discussed.
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