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.