A Study on Childhood Trauma and Sexual Narcissism in Individuals with Compulsive Sexual Behavior Receiving Counseling

Compulsive sexual behavior (CSB) has been associated with trauma and neglect in childhood. There is evidence that CSB is related to child physical and sexual abuse. Sexual narcissism was linked with aggression, sex at a young age, and many partners for sex. This study examined the associations between childhood abuse and neglect, sexual narcissism, and hypersexual behavior among participants of a sex addiction support group and a group of control participants. Participants were 118 adults, including 72 men and 46 women, with a mean age of 32 years (SD = 9.32) and an age range of 18–59. The sample included 59 participants in the sex addiction group (sexaholics anonymous, SA), 36 men and 23 women with a mean age 31.41 years (SD = 8.13), and the control group from the general population included 36 men and 23 women with a mean age 32.47 years (SD = 10.42). Questionnaires included a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Hypersexual Behavior Inventory, the Sexual Narcissism Scale, and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. Childhood trauma was associated with sexual narcissism and with hypersexual behavior. A mediation model showed that sexual narcissism and child trauma significantly contributed to ratings of hypersexual behavior, and explained 60.3% of the variance of hypersexual behavior ratings. In addition, using the Bootstrapping method, the indirect effects found in this model showed that sexual narcissism increased the likelihood of hypersexual behavior, and it was a significant mediating factor between trauma and hypersexual behavior. In summary, this study indicates that sexual narcissism mediated the relationships between childhood trauma and hypersexual behavior. These findings explain the role of sexual narcissism and CSA in hypersexual behavior and it may have clinical implications for the treatment of CSB disorder.