Assessing sexual arousal with adolescent males who have offended sexually: self-report and unobtrusively measured viewing time

Evidence of Construct Validity in the Assessment of Hebephilia

Hebephilia refers to a persistent intense sexual interest in pubescent children. Although not as widely studied as pedophilia, studies of hebephilia have indicated convergence in self-report and sexual arousal. The present study expanded on previous work by examining convergent and divergent validity across indicators of hebephilia that included self-report, sexual behavior, and sexual arousal in a sample of 2238 men who had sexually offended. We included men who denied such interest and specifically examined the overlap between hebephilia and pedophilia and examined pedohebephilia (i.e., sexual interests in both prepubescent and pubescent children). Results indicated that there was considerable convergence across indicators of hebephilia. The results suggested poor divergent validity between hebephilia and pedophilia, as there was substantial overlap between the two constructs across analyses. Finally, a distinct pattern of sexual arousal was found in offenders with pedohebephilia. The results of the present study were discussed with a focus on implications for the assessment of sexual interest in children and the conceptualization of pedohebephilia.

Emergence of nonsexual crimes and their relationship to sexual crime characteristics and the deviant arousal of male adolescent sexual offenders: an exploratory study

In this study, we explore nonsexual crimes committed by a sample of 437 incarcerated adolescent sexual offenders as well as deviant arousal and its relationships to nonsexual and sexual crimes. Over 50% of the juvenile sexual offenders in this sample have committed nonsexual offenses. In addition, nonsexual crimes, particularly general delinquency, were significantly correlated to a number of characteristics of sexual crimes committed by the youth. Previous research has shown that sexually abusive youth are more likely to recidivate nonsexual crimes, and among the implications of this study is the need for treatment providers and service delivery systems to address nonsexual as well as sexual crimes.

Computerized assessment of pedophilic sexual interest through self-report and viewing time: reliability, validity, and classification accuracy of the affinity program

Affinity is a computerized assessment tool that combines viewing time and self-report measures of sexual interest. The present study was designed to assess the diagnostic properties of Affinity with respect to sexual interest in prepubescent children. Reliability of both self-report and viewing time components was estimated to be high. The group profile of a sample of pedophilic adult male child molesters (n = 42, all of whom admitted their offenses) differed from the group profiles of male community controls (n = 95) and male nonsexual offenders (n = 27), respectively. More specifically, both ratings and viewing times for images showing small children or prejuvenile children were significantly higher within the child molester sample than in either of the other two groups, attesting to the validity of the measures. Overall classification accuracy, however, was mediocre: A multivariate classification routine yielded 50% sensitivity for child molester status at the cost of 13% false positives. The implications for forensic use of Affinity are discussed.

Are cognitive distortions associated with denial and minimization among sex offenders?

Although there has been much speculation about the relationship between cognitive distortions and denial/minimization, little research on the subject is available. The authors conducted secondary analyses on existing data sets to further examine the degree of association between various measures of cognitive distortions and denial/minimization among child molesters (Sample 1, n = 73; Sample 2, n = 42; Sample 3, n = 38) and rapists (Sample 1, n = 41; Sample 3, n = 14). Meta-analysis of the findings from Samples 1, 2, and 3 indicated that greater endorsement of cognitive distortions about sex offending in general was significantly associated with greater denial/minimization of one's own guilt and deviance (r = .24), harm to one's own victims (r = .32), one's need for treatment (r = .21), and responsibility for one's sex offenses (r = .16). Although correlated, cognitive distortions and denial/minimization, at least as typically measured, are distinct constructs.

Comparing a pictorial stroop task to viewing time measures of sexual interest

This study investigated the ability of two viewing time (VT) methodologies and a pictorial Stroop task to differentiate sexual interest in a group of nonoffending heterosexual and homosexual men. The two VT methodologies were investigated given the lack of consistency among published studies supporting this method. The results indicated that the VT methodology in which participants are asked to browse through some images is slightly superior to the method in which participants are asked to rate their attractiveness to the images. The results also indicated that the Pictorial Stroop Task did not adequately differentiate between age categories of sexual interest within the two groups. The results have implications for the methodology used in VT tasks.

Indirect behavioral measures of cognition among sexual offenders

Indirect measures of cognition have become an important tool in research on sexual offending. Such methods allow the exploration and testing of models of cognitive processes that might underpin sexual preferences and, in turn, sexual offending. The article reviews studies that have used a large range of indirect techniques (e.g., Implicit Association Test, Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure, Choice Reaction Times, Stroop Interference, Rapid Serial Visual Presentation, Lexical Decision Priming Task, and Viewing Times), and aims to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of this research.