| Previous research and reports from marital therapists show that the use of Internet sex is becoming an epidemic. The purpose of this instrumental case study was to examine the impact of Internet sex on heterosexual couples' marriage relationships and illustrate the process by which these couples chose to remain married and recover from the negative impact of at-risk spouse's involvement in Internet sex. Five married couples from Missouri and Oklahoma were selected for this study. All the couples identified themselves as Christians, which was one of the limitations of this study. The findings were discussed in the context of principles from social exchange theory, Rusbult's theory, and Carnes's developmental model. The overall results indicated that couples can recover from the negative impact of their spouses' involvement in Internet sex. It is recommended that this study be replicated with a larger sample focused on one aspect of the emergent themes.;Keywords: at-risk user, computer sex, human sexuality, sexuality, Internet, Internet sex, Internet sexuality, psychology, sexuality, theories of sexuality, sexuality, sexual behavior, Internet, cybersex, sexual addictions, sexual compulsivity, Internet sex, compulsive sex, Internet addiction, Internet affairs, cyberaffairs, Internet infidelity, couple recovery, relationship recovery, marriage and theory, and social exchange theory. |
