Neurodevelopmental Differences, Pedohebephilia, and Sexual Offending: Findings from Two Online Surveys

Abstract

The neurodevelopmental theory of pedohebephilia states that sexual interests in children arise from early neurodevelopmental perturbations, as, for example, evidenced by increased non-right-handedness, more childhood head injuries, and reduced intelligence and height. As corroborating evidence largely rests on samples of convicted men, we conducted online surveys among German-speaking (Study 1, N = 199) and English-speaking men (Study 2, N = 632), specifically targeting community members with pedohebephilic or teleiophilic interests. Although we detected theoretically meaningful sexual interest patterns in an embedded viewing time task, we could not detect expected neurodevelopmental differences between teleiophilic and pedohebephilic men in any of the two studies. Strikingly, pedohebephilic men who reported convictions for sexual offences emerged as smaller and less intelligent than pedohebephilic men without convictions in Study 2. While elucidating possible third variable confounds, results have to be interpreted cautiously because of the methodological problems inherent to non-matched case control designs.

Androgens, brain and androgen deprivation therapy in paraphilic disorders: A narrative review

“…Child sexual abusers have decreased thickness in the right motor cortex and pronounced reductions in the surface area of bilateral frontal, temporal, cingulate and insular regions. These findings suggest aberrant neuroanatomy and lower intelligence as a potential core feature underlying the sexually abusive behaviour of paedophiles (Jahnke et al, 2022; Lett et al, 2018). Likewise, lower grey matter volume in the prefrontal or anterior dorsomedial cingulate cortex is associated with a higher risk of re‐offending in pedophilic child molesters (Spearman's Rho = −0.408; p = 0.001 (Schiffer et al, 2017).…”

“…Paedophilia refers to sexual attraction to children under the age of 11 approximately; pedohebephilia, to an attraction towards minors between 11 and 14 years old; and pedoephebophilia, to an attraction towards adolescents between 15 and 18–19 years old (Jahnke et al, 2022).…”