Problematic Pornography Use (PPU): A Scientometric Perspective of 51 Years of Literature

This current study aims to systematically analyze the evolution of the scientific literature on Problematic Pornography Use (PPU), identifying: (1) the main domains of research; (2) the most impactful documents in the field; and (3) the structure of knowledge (most active countries, main sources, most productive authors, and most frequently used keywords). For this reason, we conducted a comprehensive scientometric analysis of the literature on Problematic Pornography Use, sourcing our data from Scopus. Our research involved a document co-citation analysis of 29,133 references, leading to the identification of six key thematic areas within the PPU literature. Findings indicate that the published evidence covers clusters focused on the conceptualization of “hypersexuality” and the social and psychopathological factors that might characterize or predict it. The recent literature also analyzed the role of “moral incongruence” and provided validated psychometric tools to assess PPU. This scientometric perspective provides greater insight into the knowledge gaps within this new and rapidly growing field of study and highlights the need to raise awareness to produce targeted responses in public mental health.