This study assessed the social self-esteem and the coping styles of child m
olesters, nonsex offenders, and nonoffenders. Child molesters were found to
have lower self-esteem than the other participants, and they more typicall
y made use of emotion-focused (i.e., ineffective) coping strategies. A comb
ination of low self-esteem and poor coping was found to predict being a chi
ld molester although the causal pathway was somewhat obscure and appeared t
o involve a complex feedback loop. The results are discussed in terms of th
eir theoretical and treatment implications.