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Hebephilia
 
 
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Hebephilia refers to an adult's sexual preference for pubescent youths; the term was introduced by Glueck (1955). It differs from ephebophilia
Ephebophilia

File:Kiss Briseis Painter Louvre G278 n3.jpgEphebophilia is a word indicating sexual preference for mid to late adolescents. In research environments, specific terms are used for chronophilias: ephebophilia to refer to the sexual preference for mid to late adolescents, hebephilia to refer the sexual preference for pubescent persons, and ped...
, which refers to the erotic interest in individuals in mid- to late adolescence
Adolescence

Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and mental Human development that occurs between childhood and adulthood. This transition involves biological , social, and psychological changes, though the biological or physiological ones are the easiest to measure objectively....
, and from pedophilia
Pedophilia

The term pedophilia or paedophilia has a range of definitions as found in psychology, law enforcement, and the popular vernacular.As a medical diagnosis, it is defined as a psychological disorder in which an adult experiences a sexual preference for prepubescent children....
, which refers to the erotic interest in prepubescent children. While individuals with a sexual preference for adults (i.e., teleiophiles) may have some sexual interest in pubescent-aged individuals, the term hebephilia is reserved for those who prefer pubescent-aged individuals over adults.

ith sexual preference in general, it is not known what causes someone to be sexually interested in pubescent children rather than in adults.

A team of Canadian
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
  sexologists
Sexology

Sexology is the study of sexual interests, behavior, and function. In modern sexology, researchers apply tools from several academic fields, including biology, medicine, psychology, statistics, epidemiology, pedagogics, sociology, anthropology, and criminology....
 has published a series of research articles comparing biologically relevant characteristics of clinical samples of pedophiles
Pedophilia

The term pedophilia or paedophilia has a range of definitions as found in psychology, law enforcement, and the popular vernacular.As a medical diagnosis, it is defined as a psychological disorder in which an adult experiences a sexual preference for prepubescent children....
, hebephiles, and teleiophiles (individuals with a sexual preference for adults).






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Hebephilia refers to an adult's sexual preference for pubescent youths; the term was introduced by Glueck (1955). It differs from ephebophilia
Ephebophilia

File:Kiss Briseis Painter Louvre G278 n3.jpgEphebophilia is a word indicating sexual preference for mid to late adolescents. In research environments, specific terms are used for chronophilias: ephebophilia to refer to the sexual preference for mid to late adolescents, hebephilia to refer the sexual preference for pubescent persons, and ped...
, which refers to the erotic interest in individuals in mid- to late adolescence
Adolescence

Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and mental Human development that occurs between childhood and adulthood. This transition involves biological , social, and psychological changes, though the biological or physiological ones are the easiest to measure objectively....
, and from pedophilia
Pedophilia

The term pedophilia or paedophilia has a range of definitions as found in psychology, law enforcement, and the popular vernacular.As a medical diagnosis, it is defined as a psychological disorder in which an adult experiences a sexual preference for prepubescent children....
, which refers to the erotic interest in prepubescent children. While individuals with a sexual preference for adults (i.e., teleiophiles) may have some sexual interest in pubescent-aged individuals, the term hebephilia is reserved for those who prefer pubescent-aged individuals over adults.

Etiology

As with sexual preference in general, it is not known what causes someone to be sexually interested in pubescent children rather than in adults.

A team of Canadian
Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
  sexologists
Sexology

Sexology is the study of sexual interests, behavior, and function. In modern sexology, researchers apply tools from several academic fields, including biology, medicine, psychology, statistics, epidemiology, pedagogics, sociology, anthropology, and criminology....
 has published a series of research articles comparing biologically relevant characteristics of clinical samples of pedophiles
Pedophilia

The term pedophilia or paedophilia has a range of definitions as found in psychology, law enforcement, and the popular vernacular.As a medical diagnosis, it is defined as a psychological disorder in which an adult experiences a sexual preference for prepubescent children....
, hebephiles, and teleiophiles (individuals with a sexual preference for adults). In such samples, hebephilic men are midway between pedophilic men and teleiophilic men on average IQ
Intelligence quotient

An Intelligence Quotient or IQ is a score derived from one of several different standardized tests attempting to measure intelligence. The term "IQ," a calque of the German language Intelligenz-Quotient, was coined by the German psychologist William Stern in 1912 as a proposed method of scoring early modern children's intelligenc...
 (with pedophiles scoring the lowest), memory test scores (with pedophiles scoring the lowest), rates of non-right-handedness, rates of school grade failures over and above the IQ differences (with pedophiles having the most frequent grade failures), rates of having suffered head injuries in childhood (with pedophiles having the highest rates of injuries), and physical height.

It should be noted that hebephilia is not a recognized diagnosis by the American Psychiatric Association, and is not included in the DSM-IV TR (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is published by the American Psychiatric Association and provides diagnostic criteria for classification of mental disorders....
, Fourth Edition, text revision).

Prevalence of hebephilia versus pedophilia

There are clinical and correctional samples of sexual offenders in which hebephilic men outnumber the pedophilic men. Moreover, anonymous surveys of people sexually interested in children more frequently report an erotic interest in pubescent children than in prepubescent children.