Paraphilic Disorders and Other Conditions With Risk for Sexual Violence: a Case-control Study

The goal of this case-control study is to compare clinical characteristics in help-seeking individuals with paraphilic disorders or sexsomnia (sexual behaviors during sleep- a diagnosis in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, (DSM-5)), as compared to healthy controls. The main questions this study aims to answer are:

(1a) Is there a difference in experience of violence between the clinical population and healthy controls? Is there a difference between the clinical groups?

(1b) What are the clinical characteristics of these conditions (psychiatric, sociodemographic, and genetic/epigenetic factors)? Does the clinical population differ from healthy controls?

(1c) How are the psychometric properties of the assessment forms (primarily those addressing sexual deviance and compulsive sexuality) in the project?

(1d) How has sexual interest developed over time among patients with paraphilic disorders? (including the person's own description of e.g. triggers and expectations).

Follow-up of clinical population:

(2) What is the typical treatment as usual (TAU) for the patient population? (e.g., average length of care, the percentage of dropouts and what kind of treatment has been given) (3) Are there any factors at baseline (e.g., presence of neuropsychiatric symptoms, age, symptom burden) that predict treatment outcome? (i.e., symptom burden based on self-assessments at follow-up 3, 6 and 12 months from the start of treatment and records in offence registers after 10 years).