Pollard, S. E., Hook, J. N., Corley, P., Corley, M. D., & Schneider, J. P. (2014). Support Utilization by Partners of Self-Identified Sex Addicts. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 40(4), 339-348.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0092623X.2012.751076

Study type: Quantitative analysis of an online survey

Sample size: 92

Demographics: Age range 21 to 72 years (mean = 44.4); Female (95.6%); Heterosexual (95.6%); Married (82.0%) or in a committed relationship, separated (7.9%), divorced (6.7%), single (3.4%).

Key findings & quotes:

• Study examined the support resources used by partners of sex addicts.
  
• Partners rated therapists, spirituality, support groups, and friends as most useful.
  
• Partners rated the mate, their children, and their other family members as least useful.
  
• Older partners sought more religious/spiritual support.
  
• More educated partners rated therapy as more useful.
  
• Rating the mate as useful was most strongly associated with positive relationship outcomes.
  
• “Participants who viewed themselves as victims of interpersonal relationship trauma as a result of their mate’s addiction found a wide range of sources of support to be useful, participants who viewed themselves as coaddicts/codependents specifically found support groups to be most useful.”