Two experiments are reported that were set up to examine the spatial-temporal boundaries of postural instability in upright stance as a function of age (60-96 years) and postural conditions. Subjects stood on a force platform under different experimental conditions (vision/no vision and arms up/down) so that the effect of age on key dynamic properties of postural stability could be determined. The findings showed that the ratio of the area of the motion of the center of pressure to the area within the stability boundary increased with age. Also, the virtual time-to-contact with the postural stability boundary decreased with age. Collectively, the findings show that the margins to the spatial-temporal boundaries of postural stability decrease with advancing age in the elderly. These reduced margins of dynamic stability may be a factor contributing to the progressive instability of posture with aging in the elderly.

Many individuals with sexual interest in children express a desire for mental health services but represent an underserved client population. An identified barrier to service provision is mandatory reporting legislation, which requires clinicians to report when they learn of a child who has been, or is at risk of being, sexually abused. We conducted a vignette study to examine the factors that would influence mandatory reporting decision-making when a client discloses sexual interest in children. We recruited a convenience sample of 309 Canadian registered mental health clinicians and student trainees who completed several questionnaires. Clinicians were randomized to one of nine vignettes that were crossed on two situational factors (use of child sexual exploitation material and access to children). The results of the multivariate analysis suggested that stigma towards people with sexual interest in children was associated with an increased likelihood of reporting. Clinicians were more likely to indicate that they would report the hypothetical client was viewing child sexual exploitation material and/or had access to children. These findings are discussed within the context of improving service provision to the underserved population of people with sexual interest in children.

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Social support for child-attracted persons (CAPs) may be important for increasing well-being, thereby reducing the risk of committing child sexual abuse. Unfortunately, in-person social support may be difficult to obtain because of stigma. CAPs may instead turn to online forums for people who are sexually attracted to children. The present study looks at the emotional, informational, and tangible support CAPs offered and received through online forums. We recruited 353 CAPs from Twitter and multiple online forums. The survey covered basic demographics, frequency of forum use, reasons for forum use, social support received or offered, helpfulness of forums, and their quality of offline support. Most CAPs said that they initially sought out forums to avoid feeling alone in their attraction; the quality of offline support was rated as moderate. Emotional support and informational support were the most frequently endorsed forms of social support. CAPs who visited more forums reported forums to be less helpful, which could reflect “forum shopping.” A Poisson regression predicting online support from quality of offline support and various demographic and forum use variables did not reveal any significant results. This is the first quantitative study to look at the benefits of forums for CAPs regarding specific types of social support. The authors consider if certain forums, in addition to professional help, could be part of a repertoire of resources for CAPs who may be struggling.

No abstract