AUTHOR=Costa Cristiano , Ronconi Lucia , Ferracuti Stefano , Schincariol Alexa , Scarpazza Cristina 

TITLE=Cognitive profiles of paedophilic behaviour: a meta-analytic and systematic review of developmental vs acquired forms

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychiatry

VOLUME=Volume 16 - 2025

YEAR=2025

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1568244

DOI=10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1568244

ISSN=1664-0640

ABSTRACT=BackgroundDevelopmental and acquired paedophilic behaviour are considered two distinct phenomena, yet no study has systematically compared the cognitive profiles of individuals committing these forms of child sexual offenses (CSO). This study explored whether individuals with developmental and acquired paedophilic behaviour are characterised by similar or different neuropsychological underpinnings and how these differences manifest themselves in observable behaviour.MethodsThirty-four studies on developmental CSO and 17 (describing 21 cases) on acquired CSO were included. Multivariate meta-analytic approaches were adopted to investigate the cognitive abilities of individuals who committed CSO with (P+CSO) and without (CSO) a diagnosis of paedophilia (P), while a systematic review was conducted to identify the cognitive features of acquired CSO.ResultsMeta-analytic findings showed overall worse neuropsychological performances for developmental CSO compared to the control group (μ = −0.186; p = .002). Subgroup analyses confirmed these results for both CSO (μ = −0.232; p <.05) and P+CSO (μ = −0.153; p <.05). The systematic review on acquired CSO revealed that all individuals (100%) exhibited deficits in inhibitory control and 62.5% of them showed concomitant impairments in social-cognition abilities.ConclusionsDevelopmental and acquired paedophilic behaviours share inhibitory control deficits, even though with different characteristics; however, social-cognitive deficits appear specific to acquired CSO. These findings provide insights into the neurocognitive underpinnings of these behaviours, highlighting distinct mechanisms that may influence their modi operandi.