Paraphilias in the Czech Population: Prevalence, Prior Offending, and Clinical Characteristics

Paraphilias are a known risk factor for sexual offending against individuals who are unwilling or unable to consent. Treatment may help mitigate this risk and/or address distress or other mental health problems. The current study collected data about six paraphilias associated with nonconsent (pedophilia, hebephilia, exhibitionism, frotteurism, coercive sexual sadism, and biastophilia), as well as distress, sexual offending, help-seeking, satisfaction with sex life, and social acceptance in a population-based quota sample of 6491 Czechs. About 9% of the population reported at least one of the studied paraphilias, with values for individual paraphilias ranging from 0.9% to 4.5%. There were strong links between paraphilias and detected sexual offending; however, the findings were mixed with regards to differences in sexual satisfaction or social acceptance when comparing paraphilic and nonparaphilic participants. Most individuals with a paraphilia did not report distress, and among those who did, only a few reported help-seeking during the last five years. The most commonly reported reason for not seeking help was a lack of interest in mental health services, rather than a lack of services, shame, or stigma. Results indicate that treatment motivation and distress may be less prevalent, and issues related to sexual life satisfaction and acceptance less severe among people with paraphilias in the general population than previously assumed.