During the last decade, the number of people using the Internet for sexual purposes has increased exponentially. However, most studies conducted so far have analysed Online Sexual Activity (OSA) of adolescents and young people, meaning that we have few information on how this phenomenon is expressed across the lifespan. The aim of this study was to analyse three aspects of OSA (prevalence of different OSAs, motives to engage in OSA, and excessive and problematic engagement in OSA) in a large sample of individuals in different developmental stages. A self-selected sample of 8040 individuals between 12 and 85 years old were recruited and completed an online survey. Participants were distributed into five age groups and compared (<18 years old, between 18 and 25, between 26 and 40, between 41 and 60, and >60). OSA was highly prevalent across all the developmental stages, including people older than 60 years old. Differences according to the age in the use of the Internet for sexual purposes were small-to-moderate, but we identified some age-related trends in different aspects of OSA. Finally, gender was important when it came to understanding these minor age differences. This study provides a preliminary foundation for identifying the unique characteristics of OSA across the lifespan.

在过去的十年中，以性目的使用互联网的人数呈指数增长。但是，到目前为止，大多数研究都对青少年的在线性行为（OSA）进行了分析，这意味着我们对这种现象在整个生命周期中的表达方式知之甚少。这项研究的目的是分析处于不同发展阶段的大量个体的OSA的三个方面（不同OSA的流行，从事OSA的动机以及过度和有问题的OSA参与）。自我招募的8040名年龄在12至85岁之间的个人样本被招募并完成了在线调查。参与者分为五个年龄段，并进行了比较（<18岁，18至25岁之间，26至40岁之间，41至60岁之间，以及> 60岁）。OSA在所有开发阶段都非常普遍，包括60岁以上的人。在性目的中使用互联网的年龄方面的差异很小到中等，但是我们发现OSA不同方面存在一些与年龄相关的趋势。最后，在了解这些较小的年龄差异时，性别很重要。这项研究为确定整个生命周期内OSA的独特特性提供了初步的基础。