MIDSA Assessment

The Multidimensional Inventory of Development, Sex, and Aggression (MIDSA) is a computerized, self-report inventory that provides a clinical report to support therapeutic interventions with juveniles and adults who have sexually offended. This clinical tool is the result of 35 years of research. The description of its development and validation is provided in its clinical manual, which is available at www.midsa.us. The MIDSA publications cited in the sections below provide examples of the validation of the instrument in multiple domains. The last subsection expands on its clinical utility provides sources for describing its reliability and clinical application.

Etiology & Developmental Antecedents

The MIDSA has been the core instrument in our explorations of the developmental antecedents of rape and child molestation. Its extensive developmental history and contingency-based questioning provides detailed information on sexual, physical, and emotional abuse, on caregiver acceptance/neglect, on caregiver instability, and the experience of vicarious violence. The MIDSA has contributed both to the generation of etiological models for rape and child molestation and for detailed study of the effects of sexual abuse and the developmental antecedents of psychopathy.

Berman, A. K., & Knight, R. A. (2014). The relation of familiarity with sexual abusers to subsequent adaptation in youth who have sexually offended. Sexual Abuse: Journal of Research and Treatment

Daversa, M. T. & Knight, R. A. (2007). A structural examination of the predictors of sexual coercion against children in adolescent sexual offenders. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 34, 1313-1333.

Grabell, A., & Knight, R. A. (2009). Examining childhood abuse patterns and critical periods in juvenile sexual offenders. Sexual Abuse: Journal of Research and Treatment, 21, 208-222.

Johnson, G. M., & Knight, R. A. (2000). Developmental antecedents of sexual coercion in juvenile sex offenders. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 12, 165-178.

Knight, R. A., & Sims-Knight, J. E. (2003). Developmental antecedents of sexual coercion against women: Testing of alternative hypotheses with structural equation modeling. In R. A. Prentky, E. Janus, & M. Seto (Eds.), Sexual coercion: Understanding and management (pp. 72-85). New York: New York Academy of Sciences.

Knight, R. A., & Sims-Knight, J. E. (2004). Testing an etiological model for male juvenile sexual offending against females. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 13, 33-55.

Knight, R. A., & Sims-Knight, J. E. (2009, September). Using rapist risk factors to set an agenda for rape prevention. Harrisburg, PA: VAWnet, a project of the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence/Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Retrieved month/day/year, from: www.vawnet.org.

Knight, R. A., & Sims-Knight, J. E. (2011). Risk factors for sexual violence. In J. W. White, M. P. Koss, & A. E. Kazdin (Eds.), Violence against women and children, Volume 1: Mapping the terrain (pp. 125-172). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Krstic, S., Robertson, C. A., & Knight, R. A. (2014). The developmental antecedents of the facets of psychopathy: The role of multiple abuse experiences. Manuscript submitted for publication.

Miner, M. H., Berg, D., Knight, R. A., Robinson, B. E., Swinburne Romine, R., & Netland, J. (2010). Understanding sexual perpetration against children: Effects of attachment style, interpersonal involvement, and hypersexuality. Sexual Abuse: Journal of Research and Treatment, 22, 58-77.

Miner, M. H., Swinburne-Romine, R., Robinson, B. E., Berg, D., & Knight, R. A. (in press). Anxious attachment, social isolation, and sexuality: predictors of child sexual abuse perpetration in adolescent males? Sexual Abuse: Journal of Research and Treatment

Schatzel-Murphy, E., Harris, D., Knight, R. A., & Milburn, M. (2009). Sexual coercion in men and women: Similar behaviors, different predictors. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 38, 974-986.

Juveniles Who Sexually Offend

The MIDSA has a version written specifically for juveniles. Adolescents with a fourth grade reading level can answer it. Computer administration of the MIDSA helps adolescents with attentional problems to focus.

Knight, R. A. (2004). Comparisons between juvenile and adult sexual offenders on the Multidimensional Assessment of Sex and Aggression. In G. O’Reilly, W. L. Marshall, R. Beckett, & A. Carr (Eds.), Handbook of clinical interventions with young people who sexually abuse (pp. 203-233). London: Routledge.

Knight, R. A., & Cerce, D. D. (1999). Validation and revision of the Multidimensional Assessment of Sex and Aggression. Psychologica Belgica, 39-2/3, 187-213.

Knight, R. A., & Prentky, R. A. (1993). Exploring the characteristics for classifying juvenile sexual offenders. In H. E. Barbaree, W. L. Marshall, & S. M. Hudson (Eds.), The juvenile sex offender (pp. 45-83). New York: Guilford Press.

Knight, R. A., Ronis, S. T., & Zakireh, B. (2009). Bootstrapping persistence risk indicators for juveniles who sexually offend. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 27, 878-909.

Knight, R. A., & Sims-Knight, J. E. (2014). Assessment of dynamic treatment targets for juveniles who sexually offend. In D. Bromberg, & W. O’Donahue (Eds.), Toolkit for working with sexual offenders, Amsterdam: Elsevier, Inc.

Zakireh, B., Ronis, S. T., & Knight, R. A. (2008). Individual beliefs, attitudes, and victimization histories of male juvenile sexual offenders. Sexual Abuse: Journal of Research and Treatment, 20, 323-351.

Understanding Adult Rapists & Child Molesters

The MIDSA has provided the data for the recent revisions of our rapist and child molester typologies and has supported the validity of these revised typologies. The MIDSA assesses all of the components in each typology.

Knight, R. A. (1999). Validation of a typology for rapists. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 14, 297-323.

Knight, R. A. (2010). Typologies for rapists: The generation of a new structural model. In A. Schlank, (Ed.), The sexual predator, Volume four (pp. 17-1 – 17-28). NY: Civic Research Institute.

Knight, R. A., & King, M. W. (2012). Typologies for child molesters: The generation of a new structural model. In B. K. Schwartz (Ed.), The Sexual Offender, Vol. 7, Kingston, NJ: Civic Research Institute, Inc.

Knight, R. A., & Sims-Knight, J. E. (2014). A theoretical integration of etiological and typological models of rape. In T. Ward, & A. Beech (Eds.), Theories of Sexual Offending.

Risk Factors

The scales of the MIDSA assess those areas that are critical for risk management and treatment planning. They assess the major domains that are measured by dynamic risk assessment instruments and they provide a comparison of the respondent’s status on these traits relative to a community sample and sexual offender samples. Estimates of the Structured Risk Assessment: Forensic Version (SRA:FV; Thornton & Knight, 2014) are provided in the adult report.

Knight, R. A., Ronis, S. T., & Zakireh, B. (2009). Bootstrapping persistence risk indicators for juveniles who sexually offend. Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 27, 878-909.

Psychopathy and Sexualization

The MIDSA assesses the components of psychopathy and multiple aspects of sexual behavior, fantasy, and deviance. It has generated data that has furthered both our understanding of both domains and of the interface between them.

Graham, F., J., Walters, G. D., Harris, D. A., & Knight, R. A. (2014). Is hypersexuality dimensional or categorical? Evidence from male and female college samples. Manuscript submitted for publication.

Knight, R. A. (2010). Is a diagnostic category for paraphilic coercive disorder defensible? Archives of Sexual Behavior, 39, 419-426.

Knight, R. A., & Guay, J. P. (2006). The role of psychopathy in sexual coercion against women. In C. J. Patrick (Ed.), Handbook of psychopathy (pp. 512-532). New York: Wiley.

Knight, R. A., & Guay, J. P. (in press). The role of psychopathy in sexual coercion against women: An unpdate and expansion. In C. J. Patrick (Ed.), Handbook of psychopathy, Vol. 2. New York: Wiley.

Knight, R. A., Sims-Knight, J. E., & Guay, J.-P. (2013). Is a separate disorder category defensible for paraphilic coercion? Journal of Criminal Justice, 41, 90-99. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2012.11.002

Knight, R. A., & Thornton, D. (2011). A dialogue on paraphilia coercive disorder: Moving toward an empirically based consensus. Sex Offender Law Report, 12, 33, 43-46.

Robertson, C. A., & Knight, R. A. (2014). Relating sexual sadism and psychopathy to one another, non-sexual violence, and sexual crime behaviors. Aggressive Behavior, 40(1), 12-23. doi: 10.1002/ab.21505

Ronis, S. T. & Knight, R. A. (2014). The role of sexual motivation in sexual offending behavior. Manuscript submitted for publication.

Walters, G. D., Knight, R. A., & Långström, N. (2011). Is hypersexuality dimensional and paraphilia categorical? Evidence for the DSM-5 from general population and clinical samples, Archives of Sexual Behavior, DOI 10.1007/s10508-010-9719-8.

Yoon, J., & Knight, R. A. (in press). Emotional and attentional responses of individuals with psychopathic traits: The effects of emotional induction. Australian Journal of Psychology.

Clinical Uses and Access

The description of the development and validation of the MIDSA is provided in its clinical manual, which is available at www.midsa.us. A free trial to use of the MIDSA is also provided at that site. The Knight & Sims-Knight (2014) chapter cited below describes the role of assessment in the treatment and evaluation of juveniles who sexually offend, and highlights the role of the MIDSA in this process. The MIDSA research cited in the other sections on this webpage provide examples of the validation of the instrument.

There are many practical reasons to use the MIDSA to meet assessment needs—

The MIDSA scales measure critical risk factors that should be treatment targets for those who sexually offend;

Scale scores are normed both against age-appropriate groups who have sexually offended and community non-criminal controls;
Detailed family, sexual, social, and antisocial behavioral histories are generated with narratives and tables;
Assessments are administered by computer, which means:
1. the inventory can be administered by non-clinicians;
2. respondents are more honest with computers than with human interviewers;
3. reports are generated immediately, as soon as the testing is complete.
The MIDSA is subdivided into parts, so that you choose and pay for only the parts that you want.
Follow-up assessment of the scales is available to assess treatment progress.

Knight, R. A., & Cerce, D. D. (1999). Validation and revision of the Multidimensional Assessment of Sex and Aggression. Psychologica Belgica, 39-2/3, 187-213.

Knight, R. A., Prentky, R. A., & Cerce, D. D. (1994). The development, reliability, and validity of an inventory for the Multidimensional Assessment of Sex and Aggression. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 21, 72-94.

MIDSA clinical manual. (2011). Bend, OR: Augur Enterprises, Inc. Available at www.midsa.us.