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Hebephilia refers to an adult's sexual preference for pubescent youths; the term was introduced by Glueck (1955).[1] It differs from ephebophilia, which refers to the erotic interest in individuals in mid- to late adolescence,[2] and from pedophilia, which refers to the erotic interest in prepubescent children.[3] While individuals with a sexual preference for adults (i.e., teleiophiles) may have some sexual interest in pubescent-aged individuals,[4] the term hebephilia is reserved for those who prefer pubescent-aged individuals over adults.
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 Canada|Canadian sexologists has published a series of research articles comparing biologically relevant characteristics of clinical samples of pedophiles, 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 (with pedophiles scoring the lowest),[5] memory test scores (with pedophiles scoring the lowest),[5] rates of non-right-handedness,[6] rates of school grade failures over and above the IQ differences (with pedophiles having the most frequent grade failures),[7] rates of having suffered head injuries in childhood (with pedophiles having the highest rates of injuries),[8][9] and physical height.[10]
There are clinical and correctional samples of sexual offenders in which hebephilic men outnumber the pedophilic men.[5][11][12] Moreover, anonymous surveys of people sexually interested in children more frequently report an erotic interest in pubescent children than in prepubescent children.[13][14]