Developmental Pathways to Sexual Coercion: The Relationships Among Trauma, Executive Functioning, and Callous-Unemotional Traits Among Adolescent with Sexually Harmful Behavior

Background and Purpose: 

Maltreatment and cumulative trauma histories, which include physical and sexual victimization, have been widely implicated in empirical studies as preceding socioemotional disturbance and creating a vulnerability to offend among sexually abusive youth (e.g., Marini, Leibowitz, Burton, & Stickle, 2013). The presence of interpersonal callousness, deficits in executive functioning, and challenges in emotional reciprocity, are related to both childhood trauma and to persistent delinquent behavior. Specifically, these variables have been found to be mediators between victimization and aggression among delinquent youth, however, there is limited research exploring these pathways among youth with sexually harmful behavior. The present study tests the developmental pathways to sexual coercion in a sample of residentially-based adolescents.  

Methods: 

 Confidential data were collected using self-report surveys from 196 male juvenile sex offenders, 57% of whom were sexually victimized. The sample was racially and ethnically diverse with ages ranging from 13-20 years. Measures included the Inventory of Callous and Unemotional Traits (ICU; Frick, 2004); the Self-Reported Delinquency Measure (SRD; Elliot, Huizinga, & Ageton, 1985); Child Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ; Bernstein & Fink, 1998); and the BRIEF-SR (Gioia, Isquith, Guy, & Kenworthy, 2000) which measures abilities of inhibition, emotional control, and other aspects of executive function used previously in research on delinquent behavior.

Results:

 Path analysis examining models of relevant predictors provided a good fit to the data (χ2(6)=8.63, p= 0.20; CFI = .92; RMSEA < 0.049; SRMR = 0.055). Physical abuse had stronger direct and indirect effects on sexual coercion than did sexual abuse, and the direct effect of physical abuse on sexual coercion was the largest effect. Additionally, the indirect effect of physical abuse mediated through Callous Unemotional (CU) traits was the strongest indirect effect. Test of an expanded model included executive functioning (EF) and impulsivity. Again, physical abuse was the strongest predictor of sexual offending, both directly, and indirectly, mediated by CU traits. Contrary to expectations, executive functioning was not directly associated with offending. However, both physical and sexual abuse showed significant zero-order associations with EF.

Conclusions and Implications:

 Research-based interventions adapted to address the sequelae of cumulative trauma should be considered, which have promise for treating sexually abusive youth in the juvenile justice system (Ford, Chapman, Connor, & Cruise, 2012). Callous-unemotional traits are a unique risk factor associated with aggression/offending, and that targeting both affective and cognitive vulnerabilities, with attention to the psychosocial context, may enhance interventions. Incorporating research on the relationship between early childhood adversity and behavioral outcomes has become central to social work practice, and has broader social justice implications as youth placed in residential facilities have a disproportionately higher number of childhood traumatic experiences.