A Comparative Examination of Childhood Traumas in Sex Addicts and Normal Individuals

sexual addiction is a psychiatric disorder with unpleasant personal, interpersonal, legal, social, and physical outcomes. Sexual addiction is mainly rooted in unpleasant experiences within family and during childhood. This study aimed to examine and compare childhood traumas in sex addicts and normal individuals.
This study was a causal-comparative investigation. A total of 30 male sex addicts were selected, using a snowball sampling method, from the population of sex addicts in Tehran. In addition, a total of 30 normal men were selected as control participants form the general population and were matched to the patients in terms of demographic characteristics. Participants first completed the Sexual Addiction Screening Test–Revised (SAST-R), and then, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ).
The results showed that the sex addicts scored significantly higher in the CTQ than control participants. Discriminant analysis revealed that physical abuse trauma can predict the membership in sex addiction and non-sex addiction groups.
The frequency and prominence of childhood traumas is higher in sex addicts than normal individuals. Individuals experience sexual traumas are more prone to sexual addiction.