Differentiating children with and without a history of repeated problematic sexual behavior

Many adolescents who sexually offend commenced problematic sexual behaviors as children. There is little evidence to indicate which children may be at risk to continue problematic sexual behaviors and which children will desist once identified. The goal of this study was to determine variables that differentiate children who repeated problematic sexual behaviors following adult reprimand from those who did not. Predictive accuracy of 33 risk variables was investigated using 62 children assessed for problematic sexual behaviors. Eight individual variables were related to group membership, and a total score based on the combination of these variables was predictive of group membership. The results indicate variables that may assist in identifying children requiring intervention versus those likely to discontinue problematic sexual behaviors once they are identified and reprimanded.