Demographic, criminal, personality, psychopathological, and psychopathic differences in people who have committed sexual offenses against children or adults

Establishing psychological profiles considering the type of sexual offense is relevant for development of differentiated psychological treatments. Therefore, differences in demographic, criminal, personality, psychopathological, and psychopathic characteristics between people who have committed sexual offenses against children and people who have committed sexual offenses against adults were examined. Participants were 57 people who had offended children and 30 people who had offended adults, from northeastern Mexico. Instruments were the Personality Assessment Inventory and the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised. Both groups displayed low levels of psychopathology, although participants who had offended adults scored generally higher. Regarding psychopathy, participants who had offended children presented more affective deficits, whereas participants who had offended adults showed a greater tendency toward social deviation, particularly toward antisocial lifestyle.