Assessing Sexual Interest in Children Using the Go/No-Go Association Test

Sexual Interest in Children Among Women in Two Nonclinical and Nonrepresentative Online Samples

INTRODUCTION

Regarding women, little research is available about the prevalence of sexual interest in children (SIC), especially in nonclinical samples.

AIM

The present study aimed to investigate the extent to which adult women from 2 nonclinical and nonrepresentative samples indicate sexual interest in prepubescent and/or pubescent children.

METHODS

Participants took part in an online survey either via general websites or via websites directed toward individuals with a SIC.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

The self-report survey included questions about the use of online abuse material including children and teenagers as well as about sexual fantasies involving prepubescent and pubescent children. Both measures were included as main outcome measures.

RESULTS

Results showed that few women reported having used online abuse material including children (total sample: n = 7 [0.8%], general websites: n = 3 [0.4%], SIC websites: n = 4 [9.5%]) or teenagers (total sample: n = 44 [5.0%], general websites: n = 37 [4.4%], SIC websites: n = 7 [16.7%]). Results further revealed that some women reported sexual fantasies involving prepubescent (total sample: n = 98 [7.0%], general websites: n = 92 [6.8%], SIC websites: n = 6 [11.1%]) or pubescent children (total sample: n = 136 [9.6%], general websites: n = 129 [9.5%], SIC websites: n = 7 [13.0%]).

CONCLUSIONS

The samples included are nonrepresentative and therefore not generalizable to the female population. Nevertheless, they strongly suggest that SIC is a phenomenon also found in women. We therefore recommend professionals in the field of sexual medicine to increase their attention and engagement for women with SIC. Based on the present results, the development of preventive treatment services specifically tailored to women with a SIC has to be strongly encouraged in the near future. Tozdan S, Dekker A, Neutze J, et al. Sexual Interest in Children Among Women in Two Nonclinical and Nonrepresentative Online Samples. Sex Med 2020;8:251-264.

Tracking Mouse Trajectories Related to Decisions About Sexual Interest

The current research explored continuous behavioral processes by recording participants' hand movements toward a response option using Mousetracker software. Across three studies, we tested the idea that sexual interest-related decisions can be indexed using automatic movements. Using a UK sample of self-identified same- and opposite-gender attracted men (N = 43), Study 1 showed that the process of approaching the response button was faster, more direct, and less curved when participants responded from their own (vs. a non-preferred) perspective. Study 2 supported these findings using a German sample of self-identified same- and opposite-gender attracted men (N = 66). Using a teleiophilic sample of 100 self-identified opposite-gender attracted men (n = 51) and women (n = 49), Study 3 examined age-specific sexual interests (i.e., responding to stimuli from a pedophilic and a teleiophilic perspective). As expected, in the teleiophilic block, participants' responses were faster, more direct, and less curved than in the pedophilic block. Collectively, the results suggest that mousetracking shows promise as a measure of sexual interest (across the dimension of both gender and age), providing grounds for future research.

Validating the Utility of the Wilson Sex Fantasy Questionnaire With Men Who Have Sexually Offended Against Children

The Wilson Sex Fantasy Questionnaire (WSFQ) assesses the use of 40 specific sexual fantasies, which are grouped into four overarching themes (Intimate, Exploratory, Impersonal, and Sadomasochistic). It also includes two items that reflect characteristics associated with children. Since sexual fantasies are a key factor in sex offender treatment, the present study tested the validity of the WSFQ for use with men who have sexually offended against children (SOC). Differential validity was assessed by comparing 54 SOC, 22 community males with a sexual interest in children (C-SI), and 79 community males with no sexual interest in children (C-NSI) on each WSFQ subscale and child-related item. Results showed that SOCs scored lower on each subscale than both community groups. On the two child-related items, the SOCs and C-SIs scored higher than C-NSIs. For the "Sex with someone much younger than yourself" item, younger SOCs had greater scores than younger C-NSIs, while older C-NSIs had greater scores than older SOCs. Construct validity was assessed using the SOC sample by examining relationships between WSFQ variables and 1) the self-reported use of deviant sexual fantasies assessed via the Thoughts and Fantasies Questionnaire and 2) offending behavior derived from crime scene data. The WSFQ Intimacy subscale was unrelated to any deviant sexual fantasies, while the other subscales were most strongly associated with sadistic fantasies. The child-related WSFQ items were most strongly associated with sexual fantasies about prepubescent children. Very few relationships were observed between the WSFQ variables and crime scene behaviors. The implications of the results are discussed, along with the study's limitations and suggestions for future research.

Are There Any Biomarkers for Pedophilia and Sexual Child Abuse? A Review

The use of biomarkers in medicine is a common and valuable approach in several clinical fields. Understanding the relationship between measurable biological processes and clinical outcomes not only is indispensable in the face of understanding physiological processes in healthy as well as in diseased organisms but also for understanding and evaluating treatment effects. Therefore, also in the context of forensic psychiatry, biomarkers and their potentially beneficial effects are of growing interest. The objective of this review is to examine if there are biomarkers that may serve as a tool to support diagnostic process, treatment evaluation, and risk assessment of pedophilic individuals and child sexual offenders. In the first part, we present an overview of the current neurobiological, as well as physiological and psychophysiological approaches to characterize pedophilia and child sexual offending. Secondly, we discuss and evaluate the impact of these approaches on the development of biomarkers for diagnosis, therapy, and risk assessment in pedophilic subjects and child sexual offenders. We conclude that a lot of research has already enhanced our neurobiological knowledge about pedophilia and child sexual offending. Although there surely exist promising parameters and approaches, in our view currently none of these is ready yet to serve as a clinically applicable diagnostic, response, or predictive biomarker for pedophilia and child sexual offending. Therefore, further work remains to be done. The development of a composite diagnostic biomarker to assess deviant sexual interest, combining several measures like functional magnetic resonance imaging, electroencephalogram, eye tracking, and behavioral approaches seems to be most promising. A valid and reliable measurement of deviant sexual interest, insensitive to manipulations could significantly support clinical diagnostic process. Similarly, regarding therapy evaluation and risk assessment, a composite biomarker to assess inhibitory control functions seems to be promising. Furthermore, the application of the Research Domain Criteria-approach, a new approach for investigating and classifying mental disorders, offers the possibility to take research to a new level.

Advances in the Assessment of Sexual Deviance

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

This paper reviews recent research into four different approaches to the assessment of offense-related sexual deviance.

RECENT FINDINGS

Two of these approaches, structured rating scales and phallometry, have a sufficient basis in research for clinical use but have undergone significant refinements in recent years. One approach, the use of cognitive tasks to indirectly assess sexual deviance, is approaching the point where it has a sound research basis for clinical use though too many promising tasks have yet to make the transition from laboratory to clinical practice. This approach has however begun to map the earlier stages of sexual response including preconscious processes. The final approach, assessment through neuroimaging, is at the earliest stage of development with research findings having yet to reach sufficient stability for clinical application. Existing assessment technologies, despite their limitations, allow professionals to assess offense-related sexual deviance. New approaches, currently being developed, potentially allow a better understanding of underlying processes and, when sufficiently mature, will be more therapeutically useful.