Sexual arousal as a function of physiological and cognitive variables in a sexual offender population.

Physiological and cognitive variables may compromise the physiological assessment of sexual arousal, particularly in forensic settings. Thus, the effects of physiological and cognitive variables as potential moderators need investigation with respect to physiological measures of sexual arousal. Penile erection, demographic, and psychometric data were analyzed among 169 inpatients adult male sexual offenders. The hypotheses that (i) sexual arousability would be inversely related to age and (ii) subjects who were able to cognitively inhibit their sexual arousal would exhibit lower levels of pedophilic arousal than subjects who were unable to inhibit arousal were supported. Subject age did not interact with inhibition ability. Age and the presence of inhibitory ability appear to be arousability variables in that these variables mediate both deviant and nondeviant arousal.