A Systematic Review of Measures of Deviant Sexual Interest and Arousal

Akerman, Geraldine; Beech, Anthony R.

doi:10.1080/13218719.2010.547161

Cited by 26 publications

(12 citation statements)

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“…In relation to sexual interest, viewing time has been used to measure interest in preferred over non-preferred figures. One way for measuring viewing time in these paradigms is to record observers’ response times while they rate the sexual appeal of pictures of men and women (Gress, 2005 ; Gress, Anderson, & Laws, 2013 ; for reviews, see Akerman & Beech, 2012 ; Laws & Gress, 2004 ; Snowden, Craig, & Gray, 2011 ). In these studies, longer response times for a specific stimulus type correspond to the reported sexual interest for that category (Quinsey, Ketsetzis, Earls, & Karamanoukian, 1996 ) and physiological measures of sexual arousal (Abel, Huffman, Warberg, & Holland, 1998 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pupillary Response as an Age-Specific Measure of Sexual Interest

2016

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In the visual processing of sexual content, pupil dilation is an indicator of arousal that has been linked to observers’ sexual orientation. This study investigated whether this measure can be extended to determine age-specific sexual interest. In two experiments, the pupillary responses of heterosexual adults to images of males and females of different ages were related to self-reported sexual interest, sexual appeal to the stimuli, and a child molestation proclivity scale. In both experiments, the pupils of male observers dilated to photographs of women but not men, children, or neutral stimuli. These pupillary responses corresponded with observer’s self-reported sexual interests and their sexual appeal ratings of the stimuli. Female observers showed pupil dilation to photographs of men and women but not children. In women, pupillary responses also correlated poorly with sexual appeal ratings of the stimuli. These experiments provide initial evidence that eye-tracking could be used as a measure of sex-specific interest in male observers, and as an age-specific index in male and female observers.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pupillary Response as an Age-Specific Measure of Sexual Interest

2016

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“…However, such methods suffer from social desirability responding; and in the case of measuring genital arousal, it is also possible to suppress such responses (e.g., Beck & Baldwin, 1994;Golde, Strassberg, & Turner, 2000;Mahoney & Strassberg, 1991). Researchers have therefore explored alternative measures of sexual interest that are less obtrusive and vulnerable to conscious manipulations, such as the implicit-association test, pictorial modified Stroop tasks, choice reaction time tasks, and viewing-time paradigms (Akerman & Beech, 2012;Harris, Rice, Quinsey, & Chaplin, 1996;Kalmus & Beech, 2005;Ó Ciardha & Gormley, 2009.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Self-report and phallometric approaches to the assessment of sexual interest have been applied widely to the study of sexual offending (Akerman & Beech, 2012). However, such methods suffer from social desirability responding; and in the case of measuring genital arousal, it is also possible to suppress such responses (e.g., Beck & Baldwin, 1994;Golde, Strassberg, & Turner, 2000;Mahoney & Strassberg, 1991).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…Reliable measures of sexual preference are therefore paramount in the assessment and management of these offenders (Seto, Harris, Rice, & Barbaree, 2004;Ward & Stewart, 2003), for example, to assess possible change following a treatment program (Gannon, Ward, & Polaschek, 2004;Laws & O'Donohue, 2008;Seto et al, 2004). The potential utility of a number of such measures has been examined with varying degrees of success (for reviews, see Akerman & Beech, 2012;Barker & Howell, 1992). This study explored a novel method for objectively measuring sexual interest: recording pupillary responses to images of male and female adults and children.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Heterosexual, Homosexual, and Bisexual Men’s Pupillary Responses to Persons at Different Stages of Sexual Development

Attard-Johnson

Bindemann

Ciardha

2016

The Journal of Sex Research

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“…For example, even though it is harder to fake sexual interest with phallometry, it is not impossible (e.g., Freund et al, 1979;Quinsey & Bergersen, 1976), and it is easier for men to feign interest in nonpreferred age stimuli than it is to simulate interest in non-preferred gender stimuli (Freund, Watson, & Rienzo, 1988). Further, Singer (1984) indicated sexual arousal is multifaceted and phallometric assessment only assesses one aspect of sexual arousal, genital responding (e.g., Ackerman & Beech, 2012;Merdian & Jones, 2011). Nevertheless, there are currently no strong competitive alternatives that provide a more objective measure of sexual interest.…”

Section: Phallometric Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hebephilic Sexual Interests In Sexual Offenders

Stephens¹

2021

Preprint

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Hebephilia refers to a sexual interest for pubescent children in Tanner Stage 2 or 3 of sexual development (i.e., early stages of secondary sex development; Blanchard, Lykins, et al., 2009). Hebephilia was recently proposed as a standalone diagnosis, alongside pedophilia, in the main diagnostic manual used by clinicians in Canada and the United States to diagnose mental health disorders, which ignited considerable controversy in the field. The dissertation examined the validity of hebephilia as a construct through three interrelated studies utilizing a large sample of sexual offenders from a Sexual Behaviours Clinic (n = 2,238). Study 1 examined the convergent validity of hebephilia in a sample of admitters and deniers. There was convergence among self-report, sexual behaviour, and sexual arousal indicators of hebephilia. Further, there was considerable overlap between pedophilia (i.e., sexual interest in prepubescent children) and hebephilia. Study 2 and Study 3 examined the association between hebephilia and sexual offending. Hebephilia is arguably most pertinent to furthering our understanding of sexual offending against children, as one could not act on this sexual interest legally without committing a sexual offence against a child. Study 2 examined concurrent validity by examining the role of hebephilia in sexual victim choice. Similar to pedophilia, hebephilia was associated with a greater number of victims under the age of 15. Further, hebephilia was associated with an increased likelihood of victim age polymorphism (i.e., having victims in other age ranges). Finally, Study 3 examined a subsample of offenders assessed at the Sexual Behaviours Clinic (n = 656) whose criminal records were coded and analyzed in order to assess the predictive validity of hebephilia. Both pedophilia and hebephilia were associated with an increased likelihood of sexual non-contact recidivism, after controlling for time at risk. Based on their high degree of overlap and similar correlates, the major conclusion of this dissertation is that pedophilia and hebephilia are more similar than they are different. Results are discussed within the context of the debate on whether hebephilia is a mental health disorder and the implications for the assessment and risk management of sexual offenders.

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A Systematic Review of Measures of Deviant Sexual Interest and Arousal

Cited by 26 publications

References 77 publications

Pupillary Response as an Age-Specific Measure of Sexual Interest

Pupillary Response as an Age-Specific Measure of Sexual Interest

Heterosexual, Homosexual, and Bisexual Men’s Pupillary Responses to Persons at Different Stages of Sexual Development

Hebephilic Sexual Interests In Sexual Offenders

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