Unwanted intrusive thoughts of infant-related sexual harm: prevalence and assessment of safety

Journal article

Objectives:
Unwanted, intrusive thoughts (UITs) of intentional infant-related harm are common among birthing parents. Evidence to date has failed to find any association with physical aggression toward the infant. However, the relationship between UITs of infant-related sexual harm and sexual behaviours towards the infant has yet to be assessed. This is the purpose of the current study.
Methods:
Data were collected via a prospective, province-wide, unselected cohort of N = 763 English-speaking birthing parents, n = 502 of whom provided data for the current analysis. Interview assessments of UITs of infant-related sexual harm were administered at approximately 7-weeks postpartum and 4-months postpartum. Sexual harming behaviours toward the infant were assessed via an anonymized questionnaire at the end of the study.
Results:
UITs of infant-related sexual harm were reported by 9.2% (n=38; 95% CI [6.6, 12.4]) of participants. We found no evidence of an association between UITs of this nature and sexual behaviour toward one’s infant (Fisher’s exact, p=1.00). Only one participant reported engaging in sexual behaviour toward their infant, and they did not report any UITs of infant-related sexual harm.
Conclusions:
Study findings add to growing evidence that UITs of infant-related harm are common, and when these thoughts are unwanted and intrusive, they are not associated with an increased risk of actually harming one’s infant. Although findings suggest that this is also true for UITs of infant-related sexual harm and sexual behaviour, due to the small sample employed in this research, replication with a larger sample is needed.

Authors: Beck, Q; Sachet, J; Cargnelli, C; Lathrop, B; Challacombe, F

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Physicians Postgraduate Press
• Journal: Journal of Clinical Psychiatry
• Volume: 87
• Issue: 1
• Article number: 25m15985
• Publication date: 2026-02-04
• Acceptance date: 2025-12-09
• DOI: 10.4088/JCP.25m15985
• EISSN: 1555-2101
• ISSN: 0160-6689
• Language: English