[Pedophilia. Prevalence, etiology, and diagnostics]

Pedophilia is a disorder of sexual preference that increases the risk for committing sexual offenses against children. Consequently, pedophilia is not only relevant in psychiatric therapy and prognostics, but also greatly influences the public attitude towards criminality. Public opinion seems to equate pedophilia with child sexual abuse and vice versa which leads to stigmatization of patients and may impede treatment. The present paper provides information on recent studies on the potential origins of the disorder and introduces new diagnostic methods. Moreover, the article presents estimates on the prevalence of pedophilic sexual interest.