A COMPARATIVE SURVEY OF BELIEFS ABOUT NORMAL CHILDHOOD SEXUAL BEHAVIORS

Objective: This study sought to collect data on what adults believe co nstitutes normal childhood sexual behaviors, and how variables, such a s role, gender, and life experience might contribute to the formation of one's beliefs. Methods: A survey describing 20 different scenarios of children under the age of 13 interacting with themselves or other c hildren in a sexual manner was administered to four groups of adults: sexual abuse experts: therapists involved in a sexual abuse training p rogram; medical students attending a human sexuality program; and grou p facilitators of the human sexuality program. Results: Behaviors that involved oral, vaginal, or anal penetration were judged by a majority of adults to be abnormal sexual behaviors in children under 13 years of age. Professionals working with sexually abused children rated cert ain sexual behaviors as more abnormal than adults participating in a h uman sexuality course. Both sexual abuse trainees and facilitators of the human sexuality course showed more directional biases than other g roups, with trainees always rating behaviors in the direction of abnor mal and facilitators always rating behaviors in the direction of norma l. Females also judged many of the sexual behaviors to be more abnorma l than males. Conclusions: Role and gender significantly influence wha t adults believe constitutes normal and abnormal childhood sexual beha vior. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd.