Understanding men's self-reported sexual interest in children
Abstract:
A few studies have found that even in the general population, a minority of adults - men as well as women - report some sexual interest in a young age group. The purpose of the present study was to identify factors associated with self-reported sexual interest in children among a communitybased sample of men. Using an online survey methodology, we examined the extent to which different types of childhood adversities (witnessing parental violence, sexual, physical, and emotional abuse), atypical childhood sexual experiences, and participants' self-reported likelihood of engaging in a variety of sexual behaviors (heightened sexual interest) were related to sexual interest in children (SIC) reported by a non-forensic/ non-clinical sample of 173 men. Data were analyzed using hierarchical multiple regression. After controlling for physical and emotional abuse and witnessing parental violence, self-reported experiences of childhood sexual abuse (CSA)significantly increased the amount of variance explained in SIC scores. However, only early masturbation and current heightened sexual interests contributed significantly to the final model. Total variance explained by the model as a whole was 24% (adjusted R2 = 20%). Early masturbation and heightened sexual interests significantly mediated the relationship between CSA and SIC scores. Findings add to the small but growing body of literature examining the etiology of pedophilic sexual interests in non-clinical samples. [...]
Childhood Sexual Abuse
Sexual abuse as a child was measured in two ways in the CEBQ. First, sexual abuse items from the Sexual Experiences Scale (modified from Briere, 1992) were used to measure the frequency of experiencing seven types of contact sexual experiences (e.g., fondling, oral sex) with a person 4 or more years older when the participant was age 14 or younger, using a behavioral scale from never (0) to More than 20 times (6). Three additional items measured non-contact sexual abuse experiences (e.g., nude photographs and exposing behaviors). These ten sexual experience items were summed to create a continuous variable childhood sexual abuse (CSA Sum; Cronbach's α = .88). Second, toward the end of the survey, participants were asked "Were you ever sexually abused as a child (before age 17)?" and 3% of males responded "yes" to this question (CSA Self-Report). A dichotomized variable CSA (dummy coded 0 = "no" and 1 = "yes") was created based on those responding "yes" to the CSA self-report question, and/or reporting contact sexual experience before age 14, resulting in 21% of males coded as experiencing CSA.
source: Research 'Understanding Men's Self-Reported Sexual Interest in Children' by Sandy K. Wurtele, Dominique A. Simons & Leah J. Parker; www.researchgate.net/publication/322926180_Understanding_Men's_Self-Reported_Sexual_Interest_in_Children; Archives of Sexual Behavior; February 2018