Paraphilic Interests: The Role of Psychosocial Factors in a Sample of Young Adults in Hong Kong

Abstract

Background Little is known about the prevalence and nature of paraphilic interests in the Hong Kong young adult population. This study explores the psychosocial factors associated with paraphilic interests. Methods Testing the propositions of several criminological theories (i.e., the theories of self-control, general strain, social learning, social control, and routine activity), the study recruited 1171 participants (18–40 years old), from September 2018 through April 2020, to examine both general and 14 subtypes of paraphilic interest (i.e., voyeurism, exhibitionism, scatologia, fetishism, transvestic fetishism, frotteurism, sadism, masochism, biastophilia, urophilia, scatophilia, hebephilia, pedophilia, and zoophilia). Results The findings indicate that males reported significantly higher levels of general and 12 subtypes of paraphilic interest than females, while females had a higher level of transvestic fetishism than males. No mean difference is found between males and females in interest in masochism. Relative to females, males reported significantly higher levels of negative temperament, alcohol and drug use, and risky sexual behavior, whereas females had higher levels of self-control, social bonds, and perceived neighborhood disorganization than males. Multivariate analyses indicate that in general, high levels of negative temperament, alcohol and drug use, risky sexual behavior, and perceived neighborhood disorganization and low levels of self-control and social bonds were important factors associated with the participants’ likelihood of having general and 14 subtypes of paraphilic interest. Conclusions These findings provide support to the significant role of psychosocial factors in understanding different paraphilic interests in the Hong Kong young adult population. Policy Implications This study has implications for practice, in the form of reducing, if not eliminating, the tendency to develop an interest in paraphilic behaviors. This may be more important when referring to paraphilic behaviors that are criminally oriented.

Risky Sexual Behavior of Young Adults in Hong Kong: An Exploratory Study of Psychosocial Risk Factors

“…Moreover, an individual's sexual risk-taking tendency was found to be positively associated with his/her development of paraphilic interests. Previous studies have found that individuals who had paraphilic interests or had been diagnosed with paraphilias were more likely to engage in hypersexual activities, such as having multiple sexual partners, a high sexual appetite and preoccupation, and high rates of sexual behavior (Kafka and Hennen, 2003;Långström and Hanson, 2006;Kafka, 2009;Chan, 2021). Indeed, Chan (2020a) found that high levels of RSB and paraphilic interests were significantly associated with sexual offending behavior.…”

“…Consistent with some theories of sexual offending, Lalumière et al (2005) posited that an individual's paraphilic behavior may be influenced by his/her degree of impulsivity or propensity to engage in sexual and nonsexual risky behavior. Empirical support for the roles of risk-taking and impulsivity in the expression of paraphilic interests and activities has accumulated (e.g., Kafka, 1997Kafka, , 2001Långström and Seto, 2006;Marshall, 2007;Chan, 2021). Dawson et al (2016) asserted that low levels of general inhibition, as a result of greater degrees of sensation-seeking and impulsivity, may lead to the development of atypical sexual interests.…”

“…Public seminars regarding psychological and emotional health should be conducted regularly to disseminate useful information to effectively cope with negative emotions (e.g., anger management, self-assertiveness, and general positive emotions). For individuals who are at a high risk of or are currently engaging in RSB, social norm interventions should be conducted to address misperceptions over alcohol consumption, drug use, RSB (Martens et al, 2006), and paraphilic activities (Chan, 2021). Ideally, this intervention may not only have a remedial effect by reducing the frequency with which individuals who already engage in a behavior choose to do so (e.g., RSB, use of alcohol and other drugs, paraphilic activities), but also have a preventive effect by correcting misperceptions among those who are not yet frequently engaging in such behavior.…”

The Development, Content Validation, and Pilot Testing of the Paraphilic Interests and Disorders Scale

“…*The range of means in Chan 2021 appears based on the total number of items in the Paraphilia scale that load on to each paraphilic interest; thus, the range may exceed each individual item score (range of −3 to 3).…”

“…Other studies fail to assess whether the paraphilic interest and/or behavior caused distress, impairment, or entailed an actual risk of harm to others (e.g., Dawson et al, 2016; Seto et al, 2012), which is relevant to the paraphilic disorder diagnostic criteria. Last, measures have been limited in their assessment of only current or recent reports of paraphilic interests or acts, and do not assess across the lifespan (e.g., Chan, 2021; Dawson et al, 2016; Seto et al, 2012). The presence of paraphilias can aid in predicting the onset of sexual offending (Baur et al, 2016) and sexual reoffending (Mann et al, 2010), so it is necessary to have measurement tools that are psychometrically sound.…”