Research suggests that adverse rearing conditions such as poor-quality relations with one's parents are associated with a range of potentially problematic sexual behaviors and interests. Less is known, however, about the mechanisms linking adverse rearing conditions and paraphilic interest, especially in non-incarcerated individuals. In a representative sample of 1600 Czech adults that oversampled people with paraphilic interests, the current study examined the association between lower quality parental relations and violent paraphilic interest (sexual interest in immobilization, biastophilia, and sadomasochism), and whether this association was mediated by attachment insecurity. Participants completed an online survey with questions assessing violent paraphilic interest, attachment style, and quality of relations with their parents up until age 12. A series of models were fitted to hypotheses based on structural equation modeling. The model estimating a mediation effect of relationship quality with parents on paraphilic interests via attachment insecurity showed an adequate fit to the data (RMSEA = .039, SRMR = .027, CFI = .977, TLI = .953). Controlling for age and gender, lower parental relationship quality was associated with higher levels of violent paraphilic interest and this effect was mediated by insecure attachment, specifically preoccupied and fearful-avoidant attachment styles. Our findings indicate that insecure attachment styles, particularly those that involve anxiety of rejection, may be part of the mechanism linking poor parental bonds and violent paraphilic interest, but the causal nature of these effects cannot be confirmed based on cross-sectional observational data. We discuss study limitations and new research directions in the discussion section.

Centrum pro sexuální zdraví a intervence National Institute of Mental Health Klecany Czech Republic

Faculty of Humanities Charles University Pátkova 2137 5 Prague 182 00 Czech Republic

Faculty of Psychology Universitetet i Bergen Bergen Norway

Zobrazit více v PubMed

Abrams, M., Chronos, A., & Milisavljevic Grdinic, M. (2022). Childhood abuse and sadomasochism: New insights.

Aebi, M., Landolt, M. A., Mueller-Pfeiffer, C., Schnyder, U., Maier, T., & Mohler-Kuo, M. (2015). Testing the “sexually abused-abuser hypothesis” in adolescents: A population-based study. PubMed

Baldwin, J. R., Reuben, A., Newbury, J. B., & Danese, A. (2019). Agreement between prospective and retrospective measures of childhood maltreatment: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PubMed PMC

Bartholomew, K., & Horowitz, L. M. (1991). Attachment styles among young adults: A test of a four-category model. PubMed

Bártová, K., Androvičová, R., Krejčová, L., Weiss, P., & Klapilová, K. (2021). The prevalence 4of paraphilic interests in the Czech population: Preference, arousal, the use of pornography, fantasy, and behavior. PubMed

Bayraktaroglu, D., Gunaydin, G., Selcuk, E., Besken, M., & Karakitapoglu-Aygun, Z. (2023). The role of positive relationship events in romantic attachment avoidance. PubMed

Belsky, J. (2012). The development of human reproductive strategies: Progress and prospects.

Bentler, P. M. (1990). Comparative fit indexes in structural models. PubMed

Bentler, P. M., & Bonett, D. G. (1980). Significance tests and goodness of fit in the analysis of covariance structures.

Bentler, P. M., & Chou, C.-P. (1987). Practical issues in structural modeling.

Bernardon, S., Babb, K. A., Hakim-Larson, J., & Gragg, M. (2011). Loneliness, attachment, and the perception and use of social support in university students.

Bernstein, D. P., Stein, J. A., Newcomb, M. D., Walker, E., Pogge, D., Ahluvalia, T., Stokes, J., Handelsman, L., Medrano, M., Desmond, D., & Zule, W. (2003). Development and validation of a brief screening version of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. PubMed

Birnbaum, G. E. (2007). Attachment orientations, sexual functioning, and relationship satisfaction in a community sample of women.

Boer, D. P., Hart, S. D., Kropp, P. R., & Webster, C. D. (2017).

Bollen, K. A. (1989).

Bowlby, J. (1982).

Brodie, Z. P., Goodall, K., Darling, S., & McVittie, C. (2019). Attachment insecurity and dispositional aggression: The mediating role of maladaptive anger regulation.

Brouillette-Alarie, S., & Proulx, J. (2019). The etiology of risk in sexual offenders: A preliminary model. PubMed

Brown, A., Barker, E. D., & Rahman, Q. (2020). A systematic scoping review of the prevalence, etiological, psychological, and interpersonal factors associated with BDSM. PubMed

Chan, H. C. (2023). Youth sexual offending in Hong Kong: Examining the role of self-control, risky sexual behaviors, and paraphilic interests. PubMed PMC

Chopik, W. J., Edelstein, R. S., & Fraley, R. C. (2013). From the cradle to the grave: Age differences in attachment from early adulthood to old age. PubMed

Connolly, M., & Woollons, R. (2008). Childhood sexual experience and adult offending: An exploratory comparison of three criminal groups.

Czech Statistical Office. (2013).

Danese, A., & McEwen, B. S. (2012). Adverse childhood experiences, allostasis, allostatic load, and age-related disease. PubMed

Dang, S. S., & Gorzalka, B. B. (2015). Insecure attachment style and dysfunctional sexual beliefs predict sexual coercion proclivity in university men. PubMed PMC

Del Giudice, M. (2019). Sex differences in attachment styles. PubMed

Dhawan, S., & Marshall, W. L. (1996). Sexual abuse histories of sexual offenders.

Dunkley, C. R., & Brotto, L. A. (2020). The role of consent in the context of BDSM. PubMed

Dunkley, C. R., Dang, S. S., Chang, S. C. H., & Gorzalka, B. B. (2016). Sexual functioning in young women and men: Role of attachment orientation. PubMed

Felitti, V. J., Anda, R. F., Nordenberg, D., Williamson, D. F., Spitz, A. M., Edwards, V., Koss, M. P., & Marks, J. S. (1998). Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults. PubMed

Fraley, R. C., Hudson, N. W., Heffernan, M. E., & Segal, N. (2015). Are adult attachment styles categorical or dimensional? A taxometric analysis of general and relationship-specific attachment orientations. PubMed

Fučík, P. (2016). Where are the effects of family structure? The educational level, current partnership and income level of the Czech adult population socialised in single-parent families.

Gillath, O., Shaver, P. R., Baek, J.-M., & Chun, D. S. (2008). Genetic correlates of adult attachment style. PubMed

Grady, M. D., Levenson, J. S., & Bolder, T. (2017). Linking adverse childhood effects and attachment: A theory of etiology for sexual offending. PubMed

Grady, M. D., & Yoder, J. (2024). Attachment theory and sexual offending: Making the connection. PubMed

Grady, M. D., Yoder, J., & Brown, A. (2021). Childhood maltreatment experiences, attachment, sexual offending: Testing a theory. PubMed

Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., Anderson, A. E., & Tatham, R. L. (2006).

Hanson, R. K., Harris, A. J. R., Scott, T. L., & Helmus, L. M. (2007).

Hazan, C., & Shaver, P. (1987). Romantic love conceptualized as an attachment process. PubMed

Holvoet, L., Huys, W., Coppens, V., Seeuws, J., Goethals, K., & Morrens, M. (2017). Fifty shades of Belgian gray: The prevalence of BDSM-related fantasies and activities in the general population. PubMed

Hu, L., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives.

Hudson, S. M., & Ward, T. (1997). Intimacy, loneliness, and attachment style in sexual offenders.

Jenkins, P., Earle‐Richardson, G., Slingerland, D. T., & May, J. (2002). Time dependent memory decay. PubMed

Jespersen, A. F., Lalumière, M. L., & Seto, M. C. (2009). Sexual abuse history among adult sex offenders and non-sex offenders: A meta-analysis. PubMed

Joyal, C. C., & Carpentier, J. (2017). The prevalence of paraphilic interests and behaviors in the general population: A provincial survey. PubMed

Joyal, C. C., & Carpentier, J. (2022). Concordance and discordance between paraphilic interests and behaviors: A follow-up study. PubMed

Karantzas, G. C., McCabe, M. P., Karantzas, K. M., Pizzirani, B., Campbell, H., & Mullins, E. R. (2016). Attachment style and less severe forms of sexual coercion: A systematic review. PubMed

Knight, R. A., & Sims-Knight, J. E. (2006). The developmental antecedents of sexual coercion against women: Testing alternative hypotheses with structural equation modeling. PubMed

Knight, R. A., Sims-Knight, J., & Guay, J.-P. (2013). Is a separate diagnostic category defensible for paraphilic coercion?

Konrath, S. H., Chopik, W. J., Hsing, C. K., & O’Brien, E. (2014). Changes in adult attachment styles in American college students over time: A meta-analysis. PubMed

Lalumière, M. L., & Quinsey, V. L. (1994). The discriminability of rapists from non-sex offenders using phallometric measures: A meta-analysis.

Lalumière, M. L., Quinsey, V. L., Harris, G. T., Rice, M. E., & Trautrimas, C. (2006). Are rapists differentially aroused by coercive sex in phallometric assessments? PubMed

Långström, N., Babchishin, K. M., Fazel, S., Lichtenstein, P., & Frisell, T. (2015). Sexual offending runs in families: A 37-year nationwide study. PubMed PMC

Larue, D., Schmidt, A. F., Imhoff, R., Eggers, K., Schönbrodt, F. D., & Banse, R. (2014). Validation of direct and indirect measures of preference for sexualized violence. PubMed

Levenson, J. S., Willis, G. M., & Prescott, D. S. (2016). Adverse childhood experiences in the lives of male sex offenders: Implications for trauma-informed care. PubMed

Li, T., & Chan, D. K. (2012). How anxious and avoidant attachment affect romantic relationship quality differently: A meta-analytic review.

Longpré, N., Sims-Knight, J. E., Neumann, C., Guay, J.-P., & Knight, R. A. (2020). Is paraphilic coercion a different construct from sadism or the lower end of an agonistic continuum?

Lupien, S. J., McEwen, B. S., Gunnar, M. R., & Heim, C. (2009). Effects of stress throughout the lifespan on the brain, behaviour and cognition. PubMed

Lyn, T. S., & Burton, D. L. (2004). Adult attachment and sexual offender status. PubMed

Lyn, T. S., & Burton, D. L. (2005). Attachment, anger and anxiety of male sexual offenders.

Maniglio, R. (2012). The role of parent–child bonding, attachment, and interpersonal problems in the development of deviant sexual fantasies in sexual offenders. PubMed

Mann, R. E., Hanson, R. K., & Thornton, D. (2010). Assessing risk for sexual recidivism: Some proposals on the nature of psychologically meaningful risk factors. PubMed

Marečková, A., Androvičová, R., Bártová, K., Krejčová, L., & Klapilová, K. (2022). Men with paraphilic interests and their desire to interact with a sex robot.

Marsh, H. W., Hau, K.-T., Balla, J. R., & Grayson, D. (1998). Is more ever too much? The number of indicators per factor in confirmatory factor analysis. PubMed

Marshall, W. L. (1993). The role of attachments, intimacy, and loneliness in the etiology and maintenance of sexual offending.

Marshall, W. L., & Barbaree, H. E. (1990). An integrated theory of the etiology of sexual offending. In W. L. Marshall, D. R. Laws, & H. E. Barbaree (Eds.),

Marshall, W. L., & Marshall, L. E. (2000). The origins of sexual offending.

Martinec Nováková, L., Krejčová, L., Androvičová, R., & Klapilová, K. (2025).

Mikulincer, M., & Shaver, P. R. (2012). Adult attachment orientations and relationship processes.

Miner, M. H., Robinson, B. E., Knight, R. A., Berg, D., Swinburne Romine, R., & Netland, J. (2010). Understanding sexual perpetration against children: Effects of attachment style, interpersonal involvement, and hypersexuality. PubMed

Müller, L. E., Bertsch, K., Bülau, K., Herpertz, S. C., & Buchheim, A. (2019). Emotional neglect in childhood shapes social dysfunctioning in adults by influencing the oxytocin and the attachment system: Results from a population-based study. PubMed

Mundy, C. L., & Cioe, J. D. (2019). Exploring the relationship between paraphilic interests, sex, and sexual and life satisfaction in non-clinical samples.

Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (2017).

Nickisch, A., Palazova, M., & Ziegler, M. (2020). Dark personalities – dark relationships? An investigation of the relation between the Dark Tetrad and attachment styles.

Oshri, A., Sutton, T. E., Clay-Warner, J., & Miller, J. D. (2015). Child maltreatment types and risk behaviors: Associations with attachment style and emotion regulation dimensions.

Parker, G., Tupling, H., & Brown, L. B. (1979). A parental bonding instrument.

Pedneault, C. I., Babchishin, K. M., Lalumière, M. L., & Seto, M. C. (2020). The association between childhood sexual abuse and sexual coercion in men: A test of possible mediators.

Ravitz, P., Maunder, R., Hunter, J., Sthankiya, B., & Lancee, W. (2010). Adult attachment measures: A 25-year review. PubMed

Richters, J., de Visser, R. O., Rissel, C. E., Grulich, A. E., & Smith, A. M. A. (2008). Demographic and psychosocial features of participants in bondage and discipline, “sadomasochism” or dominance and submission (BDSM): Data from a national survey. PubMed

Russell, T. D., Doan, C. M., & King, A. R. (2017). Sexually violent women: The PID-5, everyday sadism, and adversarial sexual attitudes predict female sexual aggression and coercion against male victims.

Šaffa, G., Štěrbová, Z., & Prokop, P. (2021). Parental investment is biased toward children named for their fathers. PubMed

Schoenmaker, C., Juffer, F., Van IJzendoorn, M. H., Linting, M., Voort, A. V. D., & Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J. (2015). From maternal sensitivity in infancy to adult attachment representations: A longitudinal adoption study with secure base scripts. PubMed

Set, Z. (2019). Potential regulatory elements between attachment styles and psychopathology: Rejection sensitivity and self-esteem. PubMed PMC

Seto, M. C. (2019). The motivation-facilitation model of sexual offending. PubMed

Seto, M. C., Curry, S., Dawson, S. J., Bradford, J. M. W., & Chivers, M. L. (2021). Concordance of paraphilic interests and behaviors. PubMed

Seto, M. C., & Kuban, M. (1996). Criterion-related validity of a phallometric test for paraphilic rape and sadism. PubMed

Seto, M. C., Leroux, E. J., Kane, L., Ashbaugh, A. R., Lalumière, M. L., Curry, S., Stephens, S., & Chivers, M. L. (2025). Does the paraphilia scale work for everyone? Confirmatory factor analysis and measurement invariance across gender and sexual orientation groups. PubMed

Smallbone, S. W., & Dadds, M. R. (1998). Childhood attachment and adult attachment in incarcerated adult male sex offenders.

Smallbone, S. W., & Dadds, M. R. (2000). Attachment and coercive sexual behavior. PubMed

Sutton, T. E. (2019). Review of attachment theory: Familial predictors, continuity and change, and intrapersonal and relational outcomes.

Ten Brink, S., Coppens, V., Huys, W., & Morrens, M. (2021). The psychology of kink: A survey study into the relationships of trauma and attachment style with BDSM interests.

Tustin, K., & Hayne, H. (2010). Defining the boundary: Age-related changes in childhood amnesia. PubMed

Ward, T., & Beech, A. R. (2004). The etiology of risk: A preliminary model. PubMed

Ward, T., & Beech, A. (2006). An integrated theory of sexual offending.

Ward, T., Hudson, S. M., & Marshall, W. L. (1996). Attachment style in sex offenders: A preliminary study.

Ward, T., Hudson, S. M., Marshall, W. L., & Siegert, R. (1995). Attachment style and intimacy deficits in sexual offenders: A theoretical framework.

Wismeijer, A. A. J., & Van Assen, M. A. L. M. (2013). Psychological characteristics of BDSM practitioners. PubMed

World Health Organization. (2004). PubMed

Zakreski, E., Androvičová, R., Bártová, K., Chronos, A., Krejčová, L., Martinec Nováková, L., & Klapilová, K. (2024). Childhood adversity and offense-supportive cognitions among Czech adults with a sexual interest in violence or children. PubMed