Notice Board

Title: Development of Sexual Attractions and Sexual Subjectivity in Pedohebephilia: Patterns and Developmental Correlates

Speaker: Dr. Ian McPhail from the Moore Center for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse and the Department of Mental Health at John Hopkins University

Biography: Dr. Ian McPhail, Ph.D., C. Psych is a clinical psychologist and a Research Associate at the Moore Center for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse in the Department of Mental Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University. His research focuses on understanding psychological and psychophysiological processes involved in sexual offending against children and pedophilia. 

Presented by the Department of Psychology and the PSYENCE Publishing Society

This talk can be attended either in person (SA 8003) or via Zoom (https://uleth.zoom.us/j/92240230921?from=addon)

Abstract: The development of sexual attractions and sexual subjectivity in individuals with pedohebephilia remain an intriguing puzzle of human sexuality. The present research will address fundamental gaps in our understanding of these developmental processes in individuals with pedohebephilic interests. Based on data from two online surveys with pedohebephilic individuals, descriptive data will be presented regarding age of onset features, such as the onset of attractions, the ages of the targets of first attractions, age at first sexual fantasy and orgasm, and age at realizing one’s erotic age orientation differed from peers. Conceptually derived moderators of age of onset features will be examined, such as the preferentiality of pedohebephilic interest. Several developmental correlates are of primary interest for building a nuanced understanding of childhood and adolescent sexuality in individuals with pedohebephilia. For instance, an outstanding question is not only whether sexual contact with adults in childhood is associated with age of onset features, but whether the timing of such sexual experiences is associated with emergent sexuality. Taken together, these findings provide some of the first detailed insights into these developmental processes in individuals with pedohebephilia and how these processes may evidence divergence from teleiophiles from an early age.