MAPs Wanted for Study on Disclosure and Well-Being

B4U-ACT is supporting a new study from researchers at Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky. The research project aims to investigate the effects of minor-attracted persons disclosing their attractions on their mental health. 

People who are 18 or older, have disclosed an attraction to minors to another adult, and have not committed any sexual crimes against minors, are invited to participate by taking a 10-15 minute survey. Interested potential participants can learn more or complete the survey using the following link:

The researchers have also provided the following message with additional information about the study:


Hello,

My name is Mindy Yates. I am a doctoral student in the School of Professional Psychology at Spalding University. I am inviting you to join a study about how successfully telling another adult about your attraction to minors affected your mental health. This study will also ask about basic information about who you told, what you believe made it go well, and what could have made it go even better, if anything.
To participate, you must be at least 18 years old, be attracted to minors, have successfully told an adult about your attraction to minors, and have never committed any sexual crimes against minors.
You will be asked to complete a 10-15 minute online survey. Your name and any personal information will not be asked. Your participation in this study will be completely anonymous. Your IP address will not be linked to your responses in this study. There is no penalty for exiting from this study at any time.

If you are interested in joining this study, please click the link below:
https://spalding.questionpro.com/t/AbCQgZ3OfQ

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out by email (myates04@spalding.edu or bnash@spalding.edu).

Thank you for your time!


 

MAPs Wanted for Study on Attitudes Towards Mental Health Treatment

Update, 3/25/2025: Recruitment for this study has ended, thank you to all who participated!


Original Post, 11/16/2024:

Participants are needed for a new study conducted by a team of researchers from Alliant International University. The goal of the study is to increase mental treatment providers understanding of preferences/ goals for treatment in order to better provide appropriate treatment options for Minor-attracted persons.

The survey covers the following topics:

  1. Past mental health treatment experiences
  2. Barriers to treatment
  3. Goals and preferences for mental health treatment
  4. Attitudes towards seeking mental health support

People who identify as being attracted to minors are invited to participate by completing an approximately 15-minute anonymous survey. Interested potential participants may click the following link to participate or learn more:

The primary investigator of this study is Alissa Yargeau, BA., at the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University, San Diego, California (ayargeau@alliant.edu). This study has been approved by Alliant’s Institutional Review Board. For general questions about your rights as a research participant, please contact the Alliant International University Institutional Review Board at alliant-irb@alliant.edu.


B4QR Volume 4, Issue 3 Out Now

The Autumn 2024 issue of the B4U-ACT Quarterly Review has just been released and is available here.


This issue concludes the fourth volume of B4QR, and includes short critical summaries of sive studies published between April and August 2024. The featured scholar in the “Meet The New Generation” section of this issue is Ace Oh, a psychotherapist and research assistant from New York, who is on B4U-ACT’s therapist referral list and is also a frequent contributor to the B4QR journal. The full text is available to read for free on our site.

Click here to display content from www.b4uact.org.


B4QR Volume 4, Issue 2 Out Now

The Spring 2024 issue of the B4U-ACT Quarterly Review has just been released and is available here.


This issue continues the fourth volume of B4QR, and includes short critical summaries of six studies published between August 2023 and April 2024. The featured scholar in the “Meet The New Generation” section of this issue is Jessica VerBout, a PhD student at the Modern Sex Therapy Institute. The full text is available to read for free on our site.

Click here to display content from www.b4uact.org.


MAPs Wanted for Study on Messaging for Support Platform

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_column_text]

Participants are needed for a new study conducted by a team of researchers from Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, the University of Bergen, and Stop it Now. The study is part of Prevent and Protect through Support (2PS), an EU funded project aimed at preventing child sexual abuse and exploitation, including through offering resources to people attracted to children.

The goal of the study is to receive feedback regarding the messaging/approach of a new online support platform for MAPs. The survey covers the following topics: 1) current well-being and motivation for treatment, 2) evaluation of the messages and 3) sexual interests.

People who identify as being attracted to minors are invited to participate by completing an approximately 15 minute survey. Interested potential participants may click the following link to participate or learn more:

Go to survey

 

Questions about the study can be directed to Viola Westfal (viola.westfal@charite.de).

Disclaimer: B4U-ACT is not affiliated with 2PS, and the perspectives presented in the questionnaire are not endorsed by B4U-ACT. As the study is intended to seek feedback for the program’s messaging and approach, we believe MAPs may want to participate in this study, whether they agree with these perspectives or wish to express dissatisfaction with them.

 


 

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Call for “Stories of Hope”

Submissions have re-opened for our “Stories of Hope” section on b4uact.org. If you’re someone who is attracted to children or adolescents and wish to share your story on our site, now is your opportunity.

In early 2012, B4U-ACT put out our first call for “Stories of Hope”: personal anecdotes from minor-attracted people about their lives and reasons for hope towards the future. Four stories were posted to the website, from MAPs with various ages, life circumstances, and genders and ages of attraction. The stories reflected varying life experiences, ranging from different hobbies, interests, and relationship statuses, to more difficult to discuss details such as mental health struggles and past criminal convictions.

Now, 12 years later, we’d like to update this section with new stories. The lived experiences of MAPs have changed along with other changes in society, and new resources and reasons for hope have emerged in this time.

If you’d like to submit your own story, please read the following guidelines, and submit using the Google form below, or by email to b4uact-stories-of-hope@protonmail.com.

If you submit via email, please include a first name you’d like associated with the story, and include the statement “I consent to B4U-ACT’s use of my story and pseudonym on its website.” Do not include any information that would trigger mandatory reporting, or that could be used to identify you.

Guidelines:

  • By submitting your story, you agree that B4U-ACT may publish it on our website, alongside the first name you provide. (It is suggested to use a pseudonym)
  • We recommend including (non-identifying) details about your life and interests outside of your sexual/romantic attractions.
  • We ask that submissions be no more than ~1000 words.
  • B4U-ACT may contact you at the email address you provide to suggest edits after proofreading your story. We will not post an edited version of any story without permission.
  • Do not include any information that would trigger mandatory reporting.
  • Do not include any information that could be used to identify you.
  • We may not use all submissions. Our goal is to feature a small number of stories that a wide variety of people can relate to and find hope in. Your story is valuable, and we thank you for sharing it even if it does not end up on the website!

Click here to display content from docs.google.com.

B4U-ACT Featured in Psychotherapy Networker Magazine

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

In a new article in Psychotherapy Networker magazine, author Chris Lyford writes about B4U-ACT and discusses mental health professionals who work with people attracted to children. Alexandra Roth, a longtime member of B4U-ACT’s referral list of therapists, and Russell Dick, B4U-ACT’s Chairperson and Co-Founder, provided interviews for the piece.

 

Excerpt:
“A lot of people think the more you shame someone, the less likely that person is to do something wrong,” Roth explains, “but shame actually makes it harder for someone to make good choices.” Because most pedophiles struggle with loneliness, fear, self-hatred, and suicidal ideation as a result of their desires, she says, “therapy with them often has to do with addressing problems of identity and how they’ve been affected by stigma.” Many times, she says, the work doesn’t center around the client’s attraction to minors at all. “We’re focused on problems that might bring any other client to therapy, like depression or problematic relationships with parents or partners.”

 

Read the full article here:
https://www.psychotherapynetworker.org/article/the-client-no-one-wants-to-treat/


[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

MAPs Wanted for Study on Support and Stigma

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]B4U-ACT is supporting a new study conducted by researchers at the University of Paris-Saclay in Évry, France. The study aims to address stigmatization of people attracted to children, access to resources intended to provide support, and whether support received was from the private or public sector. The study is part of the masters dissertation of Vanina Guglielmi, under the review of dissertation supervisor Sébastien Petit.

Participation involves completing a 20–30 minute survey. The survey is offered as an English translation from the researcher’s original French, but may be made available in other languages if needed. Anyone who identifies as being attracted to minors is eligible to participate.

Interested potential participants may click the following link to participate or learn more:

 

The following announcement text was also provided by the researcher:

This is an anonymous survey which aims to provide statistical answers to certain questions concerning, for example, the number of people sexually attracted to minors who have had access to public or private aid, or the number of people attracted to minors who have been victims of stigmatization and the consequences thereof.

This survey is carried out as part of a masters dissertation at the University of Paris Saclay Evry Val-d’Essone. In order to participate in this survey, the only requirements are that you be MAP. The questionnaire is in English but if you do not speak the language and wish to participate, I will take note of it and possibly offer the questionnaire in the desired translation. The response time devoted to this survey depends on you but it is between 20 to 30 minutes.

Depending on the number of responses and the quality of the developments submitted, I could possibly carry out a comparative study between the different profiles. Finally, this survey will be available for several months until June. As I said, it’s anonymous and doesn’t contain Java script. To participate, click on the following link: https://starsky.limesurvey.net/118674?lang=en


 

 [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

B4QR Volume 4, Issue 1 Out Now

The Winter 2024 issue of the B4U-ACT Quarterly Review has just been released and is available here.


This issue begins the fourth volume of B4QR, and includes short critical summaries of six studies published between June and November 2023. The featured scholar in the “Meet The New Generation” section of this issue is Ellie Woodward, a PhD candidate at Nottingham Trent University in the United Kingdom. The full text is available to read for free on our site.

Click here to display content from www.b4uact.org.