Personality Disorders in a Sample of Paraphilic and Nonparaphilic Child Molesters

Abstract

This article renders the results of research that investigated personality disorders in a sample of paraphilic and nonparaphilic child molesters. The sample contained 36 paraphilic child molesters and a matched comparison group of 34 nonparaphilic child molesters. The analyses of the research results show that four personality disorders discriminate between both groups. Only the obsessive-compulsive personality disorder contributes significantly to the explanation of paraphilic child molestation. This result also contributes to the development and differentiation of the treatment of paraphilia-related disorders. For several child molesters, psychological approaches to the treatment of sexual offending (e.g., cognitive-behavioral treatment, psychotherapy in general) are limited and cannot be expected to immediately reduce risk. Interest has been expressed in medical approaches to reduce recidivism, in combination with psychotherapy.