Assessing the Cognitive Distortions of Child Molesters and Rapists: Development and Validation of the MOLEST and RAPE Scales

Abstract

The cognitive distortions of sexual offenders are considered to be influential in the etiology and maintenance of deviant sexual behavior and are commonly accepted as valid predictors of treatment potential and success, despite the lack of systematic research to support these assumptions. Contributing to this gap in the research is the shortage of psychometrically sound assessment techniques to measure these cognitive distortions. The present paper describes the development and validation of two distinct measures, the MOLEST and RAPE Scales, designed to respectively assess the cognitive distortions of child molesters and rapists. Results indicate that the MOLEST and RAPE Scales are promising clinical and research measures, demonstrating strong internal consistency and reliability, convergent and discriminative validity, freedom from a socially desirable response bias, and utility in assessing the efficacy of a cognitive restructuring treatment component. Furthermore, sexual offenders' cognitive distortions as assessed by the MOLEST and RAPE Scales were found to be related to the number of victims and duration of sexually assaultive behavior.