Paraphilic Interest, Paraphilia, and Paraphilic Disorder: The Boundary Between Physiological and Pathological Sexuality: Validation of a New Psychometric Instrument

Introduction: The clinical relationship between sexual violence and paraphilia is complex, with research indicating several risk factors; however, having paraphilia does not automatically mean an individual will commit sexual violence. Children are considered more vulnerable than able-bodied adults. This is why investigating the subjective psychopathological profile of paraphilia is important, both for prevention and punishment. The use of the term "paraphilia" refers to an intense and persistent psychophysical state of sexual interest in activities or objects that by conventional nature do not have that specific connotation or use. In literature, there is a clear difference between paraphilia and paraphilic disorder. The current validation study aims to introduce the “Perrotta Paraphilic Global Spectrum of Gradation”, which is the basis of a questionnaire that considers both intensity and frequency of the symptoms described by the patient and therefore can distinguish between the functional condition and the disorder, distinguishing between paraphilic interest, paraphilia and paraphilic disorder, in particular for the protection of minors and vulnerable minorities. Method: A validation study with 198 participants was set up, with statistical analysis of the data relating to the population sample. Results: In the case of content validity, all items obtained a CVR score greater than the cut-off value, with a minimum score of 0.902. Therefore, all items of the scale were considered essential. Also, regarding the relevance of the items in exploring the constructs investigated, optimal values of I-CVI (1.000) and scale (0.918) were obtained. Cronbach's alpha is 0.901 and McDonald’s Omega is 0.871. Therefore, all items were rated as relevant. Using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) we achieve construct validity and therefore the validity of the 9 clinical elements. Conclusion: The paraphilic manifestation has clinical relevance and the instrumental proposal that distinguishes the high-functioning forms from the low-functioning ones is suggestive for use on a larger scale.