Developmental Psychopathological Perspectives on Sexually Compulsive Behavior

Highly pernicious events can result in a variety of severe adult psychiatric manifestations, including pedophilia in select individuals with a history of prior “at-risk factors.” Influences such as social isolation can either increase or decrease the outcome. This article reviews some of the other sequential developmental factors that might contribute to sexual compulsivity in such biographies, including temperament, early attachment, family influences, trauma re-enactments, affect dysregulation, social isolation, vandalized love maps, self-formation, sexualization in families, and addictive cycles.