Open AccessPedohebephilia and Perceived Non-coercive Childhood Sexual Experiences: Two Non-matched Case-Control Studies
Author(s) -
Sara A. Jahnke,
Alexander F. Schmidt,
Jürgen Hoyer
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
sexual abuse
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.272
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1573-286X
pISSN - 1079-0632
DOI - 10.1177/10790632221098341
Subject(s) - psychology , ctq tree , sexual abuse , neglect , psychological abuse , clinical psychology , conviction , developmental psychology , injury prevention , poison control , psychiatry , medicine , domestic violence , environmental health , political science , law
Research on the link between childhood sexual abuse experiences (CSAE) and pedohebephilia is limited by its focus on events that the respondents rate as abusive. We asked 199 German-speaking (Study 1) and 632 English-speaking (Study 2) men with and without self-reported pedohebephilia to complete the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) and scales to assess perceived non-coercive childhood sexual experiences with adults (PNCSE-A), and peers (PNCSE-P, only Study 2). A substantial number of participants with PNCSE-A disagreed with all items of the CTQ Sexual Abuse subscale (e.g., 35% and 26% of pedohebephilic men in Studies 1 and 2, 38% of teleiophilic men in Study 2). While pedohebephilic men reported more CSAE than teleiophilic men, the effects for PNCSE-A did not consistently point in the expected direction. In Study 2, conviction status for sexual offenses among pedohebephilic men was linked to higher rates of CSAE, PNCSE-A, PNCSE-P, physical neglect, and physical abuse. Pedohebephilic men in Study 2 also reported more PNCSE-P than teleiophilic men. Our results highlight the importance of assessing different (positive or neutral) perceptions of CSAE. Better controlled designs (e.g., matched case-control studies) are needed to substantiate whether and how perceived non-coercive childhood sexual experiences relate to pedohebephilia and sexual offending.