Unraveling the Neuropsychological Underpinnings of Self-Regulation Problems in Individuals Convicted of Sexual Offenses Against Children: A Look Into Reinforcement Learning
Self-regulation problems are critically involved in the onset and the maintenance of sexual offending behavior against children. Studying the neuropsychological underpinnings of these problems could help deepen our understanding of this contributing factor and, thus, of sexual offending behavior. Wh...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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PsychOpen GOLD/ Leibniz Institute for Psychology
2023-05-01
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| Series: | Sexual Offending |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://sotrap.psychopen.eu/index.php/sotrap/article/view/7503 |
| _version_ | 1797686733043662848 |
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| author | Tineke Dillien Inti A. Brazil Bernard Sabbe Kris Goethals |
| author_facet | Tineke Dillien Inti A. Brazil Bernard Sabbe Kris Goethals |
| author_sort | Tineke Dillien |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Self-regulation problems are critically involved in the onset and the maintenance of sexual offending behavior against children. Studying the neuropsychological underpinnings of these problems could help deepen our understanding of this contributing factor and, thus, of sexual offending behavior. Whereas most studies have examined executive functioning in relation to self-regulation problems in individuals convicted of sexual offenses against children (ISOCs), this review aimed to provide an overview of what is known about another process that is involved in self-regulation, that is reinforcement learning. The results of this review suggested that ISOCs are impaired in their ability to acquire and reverse stimulus-reward and stimulus-punishment associations relative to nonoffender controls, but similar to a control group of individuals convicted of nonsexual violent offenses. These reinforcement learning impairments were found to be more pronounced in nonpedophilic ISOCs than in pedophilic ISOCs. By paving the way towards a deeper understanding of the self-regulation problems seen in ISOCs, this review can help guide treatment strategies for ISOCs. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T01:09:07Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c2937cc8f367415780cb9a392bf25a0e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2699-8440 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T01:09:07Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | PsychOpen GOLD/ Leibniz Institute for Psychology |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sexual Offending |
| spelling | doaj.art-c2937cc8f367415780cb9a392bf25a0e2023-09-14T08:06:59ZengPsychOpen GOLD/ Leibniz Institute for PsychologySexual Offending2699-84402023-05-011810.5964/sotrap.7503sotrap.7503Unraveling the Neuropsychological Underpinnings of Self-Regulation Problems in Individuals Convicted of Sexual Offenses Against Children: A Look Into Reinforcement LearningTineke Dillien0Inti A. Brazil1Bernard Sabbe2Kris Goethals3Collaborative Antwerp Psychiatric Research Institute (CAPRI), University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, BelgiumCollaborative Antwerp Psychiatric Research Institute (CAPRI), University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, BelgiumCollaborative Antwerp Psychiatric Research Institute (CAPRI), University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, BelgiumCollaborative Antwerp Psychiatric Research Institute (CAPRI), University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, BelgiumSelf-regulation problems are critically involved in the onset and the maintenance of sexual offending behavior against children. Studying the neuropsychological underpinnings of these problems could help deepen our understanding of this contributing factor and, thus, of sexual offending behavior. Whereas most studies have examined executive functioning in relation to self-regulation problems in individuals convicted of sexual offenses against children (ISOCs), this review aimed to provide an overview of what is known about another process that is involved in self-regulation, that is reinforcement learning. The results of this review suggested that ISOCs are impaired in their ability to acquire and reverse stimulus-reward and stimulus-punishment associations relative to nonoffender controls, but similar to a control group of individuals convicted of nonsexual violent offenses. These reinforcement learning impairments were found to be more pronounced in nonpedophilic ISOCs than in pedophilic ISOCs. By paving the way towards a deeper understanding of the self-regulation problems seen in ISOCs, this review can help guide treatment strategies for ISOCs.https://sotrap.psychopen.eu/index.php/sotrap/article/view/7503child sexual offendingself-regulation problemsneuropsychology of child sexual offending behaviorreinforcement learning |
| spellingShingle | Tineke Dillien Inti A. Brazil Bernard Sabbe Kris Goethals Unraveling the Neuropsychological Underpinnings of Self-Regulation Problems in Individuals Convicted of Sexual Offenses Against Children: A Look Into Reinforcement Learning Sexual Offending child sexual offending self-regulation problems neuropsychology of child sexual offending behavior reinforcement learning |
| title | Unraveling the Neuropsychological Underpinnings of Self-Regulation Problems in Individuals Convicted of Sexual Offenses Against Children: A Look Into Reinforcement Learning |
| title_full | Unraveling the Neuropsychological Underpinnings of Self-Regulation Problems in Individuals Convicted of Sexual Offenses Against Children: A Look Into Reinforcement Learning |
| title_fullStr | Unraveling the Neuropsychological Underpinnings of Self-Regulation Problems in Individuals Convicted of Sexual Offenses Against Children: A Look Into Reinforcement Learning |
| title_full_unstemmed | Unraveling the Neuropsychological Underpinnings of Self-Regulation Problems in Individuals Convicted of Sexual Offenses Against Children: A Look Into Reinforcement Learning |
| title_short | Unraveling the Neuropsychological Underpinnings of Self-Regulation Problems in Individuals Convicted of Sexual Offenses Against Children: A Look Into Reinforcement Learning |
| title_sort | unraveling the neuropsychological underpinnings of self regulation problems in individuals convicted of sexual offenses against children a look into reinforcement learning |
| topic | child sexual offending self-regulation problems neuropsychology of child sexual offending behavior reinforcement learning |
| url | https://sotrap.psychopen.eu/index.php/sotrap/article/view/7503 |
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