Identifying typologies of adverse experiences and psychosocial functioning for youth who sexually harm

BACKGROUND: Youths who engage in harmful sexual behaviours (HSBs) have often experienced childhood adversity and psychosocial health problems. Greater understanding of how developmental risks cluster together and/or differ within this heterogeneous population is needed. OBJECTIVE: This research aimed to further knowledge of the aetiology and treatment needs of youths with HSBs by identifying typological differences based on co-occurrence of developmental risk factors, including adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Data was derived from clinician case files of 386 Australian male youths receiving specialised treatment following adjudication for sexual offences. METHODS: Latent class analysis was used to determined risk-factor based typologies. Differences in offence characteristics across classes were examined using Chi-square tests and ANOVA. RESULTS: Four distinct profiles of young males with HSBs were identified: Limited Risk, Socially Excluded, Antisocial, and High Adversity. Characteristics of sexual harm, including offence setting, and victim age and sex, differed across these classes. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest differential pathways to youth HSB, and have relevance for informing intervention efforts, to ensure responses meet the varying needs of young people.