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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Forensic and Legal Psychology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1463191

Acceptance of sexual attraction and its link to psychological distress and sexual offending among pedohebephilic clients -results from a preliminary analysis

Provisionally accepted
Anna Konrad Anna Konrad *Laura Maria Heid Laura Maria Heid Hannah Scheuermann Hannah Scheuermann Klaus Michael Beier Klaus Michael Beier Till Amelung Till Amelung
  • Institute of Sexology and Sexual Medicine, Charité University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Pedohebephilic disorder is characterized by intense sexual urges or fantasies involving children associated with distress or sexual behavior involving children. Theoretical and qualitative accounts suggest acceptance of one's pedohebephilic sexual interests to be protective of both distress and behaviors. The only published quantitative study, however, indicated an association of acceptance with behavior omitting an analysis of distress. We examined the relationship of acceptance of one's sexual interests with child sexual abuse (CSA), the use of child sexual exploitation material (CSEM), and psychological distress in N = 238 pedohebephilic and teleiophilic men outside the judicial system (i.e., in the "Dunkelfeld"). Pedohebephilic compared to teleiophilic individuals showed reduced acceptance of their sexual interests. No significant differences between groups based on past sexual offending arose. In a subsample of only pedohebephilic individuals (n = 197), correlations with recent sexual behavior were small. In a second pedohebephilic subsample (n = 84) with data on psychological distress, increased acceptance was associated with decreased psychological distress.

    Keywords: Pedophilia, hebephilia, acceptance of sexual preference, sexual offending behavior, distress, Dunkelfeld

    Received: 11 Jul 2024; Accepted: 20 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Konrad, Heid, Scheuermann, Beier and Amelung. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Anna Konrad, Institute of Sexology and Sexual Medicine, Charité University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, 10117, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

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