Understanding the treatment barriers for minor-attracted persons living in the community

Abstract

The current research involved two studies aimed at gaining a better understanding of people with sexual interest in children (referred to as Minor Attracted Persons or MAPs) living in the community. An online anonymous survey was used to examine treatment motivation and its correlates in MAPs. Higher levels of maladaptive coping decreased treatment motivation and this association was further intensified by higher levels of internalized sexual stigma. A second online anonymous survey of Canadian mental health clinicians was conducted to examine willingness to provide psychotherapy and explicit stigma towards MAPs. Clinicians with forensic specialization expressed a higher willingness to provide psychotherapy to MAPs compared with general clinicians and those with a sexology specialization. Overall, there were no significant differences across clinician groups on explicit stigma, except for feelings of anger towards MAPs.