Psychologists are beginning to examine sexual addiction among Christian clergy members.
A new pilot study published in the journal Sexual Addiction & Compulsion suggests that many American clergy members could meet the criteria for sex addiction and cybersex addiction.
Between 2 and 8 percent of Americans meet the criteria for addiction to the Internet, including online sexual addictions, according to the study, which was led by Zeba S. Ahmad of the VA Puget Sound Health Care System. Research on sexual addictions among clergy members is scant, but the available findings indicate that “the clergy population struggles with sexual issues at rates similar to other professions,” the researchers said. About 37 percent of Protestant clergy members previously reported “viewing internet pornography” as a temptation.
Pastors and other clergy members could be at higher risk for online sexual addictions because they spend long times in isolation, Ahmad and her colleagues wrote. In addition, clergy members may be less likely to seek help for sexual addictions because they fear the loss of their position.
To begin to better understand this phenomenon, Ahmad and her colleague surveyed 26 Protestant clergy members (age 26 to 67) using an online questionnaire. The participants were assured that their responses would remain anonymous. Six of the participants were women.
The researchers found that five clergy members — 19 percent of participants — met the criteria for sexual addiction. Of these five clergy members, four also met the criteria for cybersex addiction. The researchers said their findings could be an underestimate because “this population in particular may be more apt to protect its purity and thus may not reply as openly to such explicit questions.”
Given the preliminary nature of the study, however, this percentage should not be generalized to the clergy population at large. The research is only a starting point.
“By examining this data, we aim to add to the understanding of sexual addiction within the clergy while also opening the door to more research and awareness of issues surrounding online sexual addiction within this population,” the researchers said.
