Parental and perinatal risk factors for sexual offending in men: a nationwide case-control study

Abstract

BackgroundPrior studies suggest parental and perinatal risk factors are associated with later offending. It remains uncertain, however, if such risk factors are similarly related to sexual offending.MethodWe linked socio-demographic, family relations, and perinatal (obtained at birth) data from the nationwide Swedish registers from 1973 to 2009 with information on criminal convictions of cases and control subjects. Male sex offenders (n = 13 773) were matched 1:5 on birth year and county of birth in Sweden to male controls without sexual or non-sexual violent convictions. To examine risk-factor specificity for sexual offending, we also compared male violent, non-sexual offenders (n = 135 953) to controls without sexual or non-sexual violent convictions. Predictors included parental (young maternal or paternal age at son’s birth, educational attainment, violent crime, psychiatric disorder, substance misuse, suicide attempt) and perinatal (number of older brothers, low Apgar score, low birth weight, being small for gestational age, congenital malformations, small head size) variables.ResultsConditional logistic regression models found consistent patterns of statistically significant, small to moderate independent associations of parental risk factors with sons’ sexual offending and non-sexual violent offending. For perinatal risk factors, patterns varied more; small for gestational age and small head size exhibited similar risk effects for both offence types whereas a higher number of older biological brothers and any congenital malformation were small, independent risk factors only for non-sexual violence.ConclusionsThis nationwide study suggests substantial commonalities in parental and perinatal risk factors for the onset of sexual and non-sexual violent offending.

Are There Any Biomarkers for Pedophilia and Sexual Child Abuse? A Review

“…The magnitude of this difference was similar to the difference found in other biologically based neurodevelopmental disorders (33). Using a large data-set from Swedish populationbased registers (13,773 sex offenders, 135,953 violent non-sexual offenders, 680,120 matched controls), Babchishin and colleagues found that two perinatal factors, being small for gestational age, and a small head circumference were both associated with risk of sexual, and non-sexual violent offenses (adjusted odds ratios between 1.12 and 1.51) (34). Furthermore, any congenital malformation (according to ICD10: P00-P99) had a small effect on sexual offending against children [adjusted odds-ratio: 1.15, CI (1.02-1.30)], but not against adults.…”

Executive Functioning in Pedophilia and Child Sexual Offending

“…Moreover, pedophilia (P) and child sexual offending (CSO) may have multiple causes, including genetic influences (Babchishin et al, 2016;Langstrom, Babchishin, Fazel, Lichtenstein, & Frisell, 2015), neurodevelopmental perturbations that are hypothesized to indicate neuroanatomical deficits (Blanchard et al, 2002(Blanchard et al, , 2003(Blanchard et al, , 2007, critical life events, social learning (Jespersen, Lalumière, & Seto, 2009), and structural as well as functional brain alterations (Cantor et al, 2008;Mohnke et al, 2014;Ponseti et al, 2012;Schiffer et al, 2007;Schiltz et al, 2007;Walter et al, 2007). However, it still remains unclear which of those causes may facilitate the development of deviant sexual preferences or sexual offending or both.…”

Are There Early Risk Markers for Pedophilia? A Nationwide Case-Control Study of Child Sexual Exploitation Material Offenders

“…Finally, a nationwide study (Babchishin et al, 2016) examined early risk markers among all 13,773 male sexual offenders convicted in Sweden between 1973 and 2009 with matched controls and found only three pregnancy-related factors that could be considered early risk markers for sexual offending in general. Specifically, being small for gestational age, any congenital malformation, and small head circumference were independent but weak risk markers of being convicted of a sexual offense against children.…”

“…Specifically, being small for gestational age, any congenital malformation, and small head circumference were independent but weak risk markers of being convicted of a sexual offense against children. Babchishin et al’s study (2016) was unique in controlling for important parental characteristics (e.g., parental criminality) when examining the association between pregnancy-related factors and offspring sexual offending. Given the robust link between parental characteristics and offspring outcome (e.g., parental sexual offending and sexual offending in the offspring; Långström, Babchishin, Fazel, Lichtenstein, & Frisell, 2015) and associations between parental characteristics and pregnancy-related factors (e.g., maternal age and preterm birth; Goldenberg, Culhane, Iams, & Romero, 2008), large sample sizes are required to control for these important variables.…”

“…A breadth of evidence suggests that pregnancy-related factors and parental characteristics are important predictors of many later life outcomes. For example, an adverse intrauterine environment, as indicated by fetal growth restriction (e.g., low birth weight, small head circumference) and preterm birth, is linked to poorer cognitive outcomes (D’Onofrio et al, 2013; Griffith, Mann, & McDermott, 2011; Lundequist, Böhm, Lagercrantz, Forssberg, & Smedler, 2015), psychopathology (D’Onofrio et al, 2013; Fazel et al, 2012; Johnco et al, 2016; Lindström, Lindblad, & Hjern, 2009; Nosarti et al, 2012; Robinson et al, 2009; Tuovinen et al, 2012), and violent offending (Babchishin et al, 2016). In a large Swedish population-based cohort, preterm births were associated with three times higher odds of autism and a doubling of the odds of attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) compared with children born at full term (D’Onofrio et al, 2013).…”