Department of Psychology.
J Psychopathol Clin Sci. 2022 Feb;131(2):209-220. doi: 10.1037/abn0000735.
This study examined whether pedophilia is best understood as a dimension or a discrete class (taxon). We considered pedophilia to include both physical sexual attraction to children as well as emotional attraction to children and childhood. Archival data from 901 adult males from a U.S. civil commitment treatment center for sexually dangerous persons were used. Three indicators were submitted to Meehl and Ruscio's taxometric analyses: (a) a screening scale for pedophilic interests based on criminal history, (b) a composite indicator of pedophilic physical attraction, and (c) a composite indicator of pedophilic emotional attraction. All analyses supported a taxon. Compared with nontaxon members, taxon members had more interpersonal deficits, more neurodevelopmental perturbations, more sex-crime specific problems, and fewer problems related to criminality overall. Although previous research showed mixed results (some dimensional, some taxonic), the current study moves the balance of evidence toward considering pedophilia as a distinct disorder. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
这项研究旨在探讨恋童癖是最好被理解为一个维度还是一个离散的类别（分类单元）。我们认为恋童癖包括对儿童的身体性吸引以及对儿童和童年的情感吸引。本研究使用了来自美国一个针对性危险人员的民事承诺治疗中心的 901 名成年男性的档案数据。Meehl 和 Ruscio 的分类分析提交了三个指标：(a) 基于犯罪史的恋童癖兴趣筛查量表，(b) 恋童癖身体吸引力综合指标，以及 (c) 恋童癖情感吸引力综合指标。所有分析均支持分类单元。与非分类单元成员相比，分类单元成员的人际缺陷更多，神经发育紊乱更多，性犯罪特定问题更多，而总体犯罪问题更少。尽管之前的研究结果喜忧参半（有些是维度的，有些是分类的），但本研究使证据的天平更倾向于将恋童癖视为一种独特的障碍。（PsycInfo 数据库记录（c）2022 APA，保留所有权利）。
