The psychological measurement of childhood sexual development in western societies: Methodological challenges

Journal of Sex Research

Volumn 48, Issue 2-3, 2011, Pages 118-129

  De Graaf, Hanneke ^a   Rademakers, Jany ^b  

^a Rutgers WPF   (Netherlands)

^b NETHERLANDS INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH   (Netherlands)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ADOLESCENT; ARTICLE; CHILD; CHILD DEVELOPMENT; CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY; HUMAN; METHODOLOGY; PRESCHOOL CHILD; PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECT; SEXUAL BEHAVIOR; SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT;

ADOLESCENT; CHILD; CHILD DEVELOPMENT; CHILD, PRESCHOOL; HUMANS; RESEARCH DESIGN; SEXUAL BEHAVIOR; SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT; WESTERN WORLD;

EID: 79952769624     PISSN: 00224499     EISSN: 15598519     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/00224499.2011.555929     Document Type: Review

References (60)

1. Ballester, A. R., & Gil, L. M. D. (2006). La sexualidad en niños de 9 a 14 años [Sexuality in children 9-14 years old]. Psicothema, 18, 25-30.
2. Bancroft, J. (Ed.). (2003). Sexual development in childhood. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
3. Bancroft, J. (2009). Human sexuality and its problems. Edinburgh, Scotland: Elsevier.
4. Bancroft, J., Herbenick, D., & Reynolds, M. (2003). Masturbation as a marker of sexual development. In J. Bancroft (Ed.), Sexual development in childhood (pp. 156-185). Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
5. Berends, M. M., & Caron, S. L. (1994). Children's understanding and knowledge of conception and birth: A developmental approach. Journal of Sex Education and Therapy, 20, 18-29.
6. Berney, L. R., & Blane, D. B. (1997). Collecting retrospective data: Accuracy of recall after 50 years judged against historical records. Social Science & Medicine, 45, 1519-1525. (Pubitemid 27455279)
7. Blair, J. (2000). Assessing protocols for child interviews. In A. A. Stone, J. S. Turkkan, C A. Bachrach, J. B. Jobe, H. S. Kurtzman & V. S. Cain (Eds.), The science of self-report: Implications for research and practice (pp. 161-174). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc
8. Brilleslijper-Kater, S. N., & Baartman, H. E. M. (2000). What do young children know about sex? Research on the knowledge of sexuality of children between the ages of 2 and 7 years. Child Abuse Review, 9, 166-182.
9. Bronfenbrenner, U., & Morris, P. A. (1998). The ecology of developmental processes. In D. William & R. M. Lerner (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Volume 1: Theoretical models of human development (5th ed., pp. 993-1028). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
10. Campbell, D. T., & Fiske, D. W. (1959). Convergent and discriminant validation by the multitrait-multimethod matrix. Psychological Bulletin, 56, 81-105.
11. Campbell, T. A., & Campbell, D. E. (1986). Adolescent interest in human sexuality: The questions kids ask. Journal of Sex Education and Therapy, 12, 47-50.
12. Davies, S., Glaser, D., & Kossof, R. (2000). Children's sexual play and behavior in pre-school settings: Staff s perceptions, reports and responses. Child Abuse & Neglect, 24, 1329-1343. (Pubitemid 30662438)
13. De Graaf, H., & Rademakers, J. (2006). Sexual behavior of prepubertal children. Journal of Psychology & Human Sexuality, 18, 1-21.
14. De Graaf, H., & Rademakers, J. (2009). "Seks in de groei": Update anno 2009 ["Sexually growing up": Update anno 2009]. Utrecht, The Netherlands: Rutgers Nisso Groep.
15. Finkelhor, D. (1981). Sex between siblings: Sex, incest, and aggression. In L. L. Constantine & F. M. Martinson (Eds.), Children andsex: New findings, new perspectives (pp. 129-149). Boston, MA: Little, Brown.
16. Frayser, S. G. (1995). Defining normal childhood sexuality: An anthropological approach. Annual Review of Sex Research, 5, 173-217.
17. Friedrich, W. N. (2003). Studies of sexuality in nonabused children. In J. Bancroft (Ed.), Sexual development in childhood (pp. 107-120). Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
18. Friedrich, W. N., Fisher, J., Broughton, D., Houston, M., & Shafran, C R. (1998). Normative sexual behavior in children: A contemporary sample. Pediatrics, 101, e9.
19. Friedrich, W. N., Grambsch, P., Broughton, D., Kuiper, J., & Beilke, R. L. (1991). Normative sexual behavior in children. Pediatrics, 88, 456-464.
20. Friedrich, W. N., Sandfort, T. G. M., Oostveen, J., & Cohen-Kettenis, P. T. (2000). Cultural differences in sexual behavior: 2-6 year old Dutch and American children. Journal of Psychology & Human Sexuality, 12, 117-129.
21. Galenson, E. (1990). Observation of early infantile sexual and erotic development. In M. E. Perry (Ed.), Handbook of sexology, Vol. 7: Childhood and adolescent sexology (pp. 169-178). Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Elsevier.
22. Goldman, R., & Goldman, J. (1982). Children's sexual thinking: A comparative study of children aged5 to 15 years in Australia, North America, Britain and Sweden. London, England: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
23. Goldman, R., & Goldman, J. (1988). Show me yours: What children think about sex. Victoria, Australia: Penguin.
24. Gordon, B. N., Schroeder, C S., & Abrams, J. M. (1990). Age and social-class differences in children's knowledge of sexuality. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 1, 33-43.
25. Gundersen, B. H., Melas, P. S., & Skar, J. E. (1981). Sexual behavior of preschool children: Teachers' observations. In L. L. Constantine & F. M. Martinson (Eds.), Children and sex: New findings, new perspectives (pp. 45-61). Boston, MA: Little, Brown.
26. Halstead, J. M., & Waite, S. (2001). "Living in different worlds": Gender differences in the developing sexual values and attitudes of primary school children. Sex Education, 1, 59-76.
27. Hatfield, E., Schmitz, E., Cornelius, J., & Rapson, R. L. (1988). Passionate love: How early does it begin? Journal of Psychology & Human Sexuality, 1, 35-51.
28. Haugaard, J. J. (1996). Sexual behaviors between children: Professionals' opinions and undergraduates' recollections. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Human Services, 77, 81-89.
29. Haugaard, J. J., & Tilly, C (1988). Characteristics predicting children's responses to sexual encounters with other children. Child Abuse & Neglect, 12, 209-218.
30. Kaeser, F., DiSalvo, C., & Moglia, R. (2000). Sexual behaviors of young children that occur in schools. Journal of Sex Education & Therapy, 25, 277-285. (Pubitemid 32098854)
31. Kilpatrick, A. C (1986). Some correlates of women's childhood sexual experiences: A retrospective study. Journal of Sex Research, 22, 221-242. (Pubitemid 16074895)
32. Kuik, S. (2003). Leaving childhood: Sexuality and how children become adolescents. Netherlands' Journal of Social Sciences, 39, 11-22.
33. Lamb, M. E., Hershkowitz, I., Orbach, Y., & Esplin, P. W. (2008). Tell me what happened: Structured investigative interviews of child victims and witnesses. New York, NY: Wiley.
34. Lamb, S. (2004). Sexual tensions in girls' friendships. Feminism & Psychology, 14, 376-382. (Pubitemid 39015931)
35. Lamb, S., & Coakley, M. (1993). "Normal" childhood sexual play and games: Differentiating play from abuse. Child Abuse & Neglect, 17, 515-526. (Pubitemid 23226929)
36. Larsson, I., & Svedin, C G. (2002a). Sexual experiences in childhood: Young adults' recollections. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 31, 263-273. (Pubitemid 38471100)
37. Larsson, I., & Svedin, C G. (2002b). Teachers' and parents' reports on 3-to 6-year-old children's sexual behavior\A comparison. Child Abuse & Neglect, 26, 247-266. (Pubitemid 34270483)
38. Lindblad, F., Gustafsson, P. A., Larsson, I., & Lundin, B. (1995). Preschoolers' sexual behavior at daycare centers: An epidemiological study. Child Abuse & Neglect, 19, 569-577.
39. Lopez Sanchez, F., Del Campo, A., & Guijo, V. (2002). Prepubertal sexuality. Sexologies, 11, 49-58.
40. Martin, C., & Ruble, D. N. (2010). Patterns of gender development. Annual Review of Psychology, 61, 353-381.
41. Nelson, J. A. (1986). Incest: Self-report findings from a nonclinical sample. Journal of Sex Research, 22, 463-477. (Pubitemid 17187292)
42. Newcombe, N. S., Bullock Drummey, A., Fox, N. A., Lie, E., & Ottinger-Alberts, W. (2000). Remembering early childhood: How much, how, and why (or why not). Current Directions in Psychological Science, 9, 55-58.
43. Okami, P., Olmstead, R., & Abramson, P. R. (1997). Sexual experiences in early childhood: 18-year longitudinal data from the UCLA Family Lifestyles Project. Journal of Sex Research, 34, 339-347. (Pubitemid 28178148)
44. Oostveen, J. M. E., Meulmeester, J. F., & Cohen-Kettenis, P. T. (1994). Seksueel gedrag van kleuters [Preschoolers' sexual behavior]. Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde, 138, 2200-2204.
45. O'Sullivan, L. F., & Meyer-Bahlberg, H. F. L. (2003). African American and Latina inner-city girls' reports of romantic and sexual development. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 20, 221-238. (Pubitemid 36689144)
46. Ott, M. A., & Pfeiffer, E. J. (2009). "That's nasty" to curiosity: Early adolescent cognitions about sexual abstinence. Journal of Adolescent Health, 44, 575-581.
47. Paikoff, R. L. (1995). Early heterosexual debut: Situations of sexual possibility during the transition of adolescence. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 65, 389-401.
48. Phipps-Yonas, S., Yonas, A., Turner, M., & Kauper, M. (1993). Sexuality in early childhood: The observations and opinions of family daycare providers. CURA Reporter, 23(2), 1-5.
49. Piaget, J., & Inhelder, B. (1969). The psychology of the child. New York: Basic Books.
50. Rademakers, J., Laan, M., & Straver, C J. (2003). Body awareness and physical intimacy: An exploratory study. In J. Bancroft (Ed.), Sexual development in childhood (pp. 121-125). Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
51. Renold, E. (2005). Girls, boys and junior sexualities: Exploring children's gender and sexual relations in the primary school. London, England: Routledge/Falmer.
52. Reynolds, M. A., Herbenick, D. L., & Bancroft, J. H. (2003). The nature of childhood sexual experiences: Two studies 50 years apart. In J. Bancroft (Ed.), Sexual development in childhood (pp. 134-155). Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
53. Rosenfeld, A., Bailey, R., Siegel, B., & Bailey, G. (1986). Determining incestuous contact between parent and child: Frequency of children touching parents' genitals in a nonclinical population. Journal of American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 25, 481-484. (Pubitemid 16089392)
54. Sandfort, T. G. M., & Cohen-Kettenis, P. T. (2000). Sexual behavior in Dutch and Belgian children as observed by their mothers. Journal of Psychology & Human Sexuality, 12, 105-115.
55. Sandnabba, N., Santtila, P., Wannäs, M., & Krook, K. (2003). Age and gender specific sexual behaviors in children. Child Abuse & Neglect, 27, 579-605. (Pubitemid 36765334)
56. Schoentjes, E., Deboutte, D., & Friedrich, W. (1999). Child Sexual Behavior Inventory: A Dutch-speaking normative sample. Pediatrics, 104, 885-893. (Pubitemid 29463556)
57. Schuhrke, B. (2000). Young children's curiosity about other people's genitals. Journal of Psychology & Human Sexuality, 12, 27-48.
58. Thigpen, J. W. (2009). Early sexual behavior in a sample of lowincome, African American children. Journal of Sex Research, 46, 67-79.
59. Thorne, B., & Luria, Z. (1986). Sexuality and gender in children's daily worlds. Social Problems, 33, 176-190.
60. Volbert, R. (2000). Sexual knowledge ofpreschool children. Journal of Psychology & Human Sexuality, 12, 5-26.