Many of those treated for downloading child pornography reported lonely childhoods and showed a lack of capacity for emotional intimacy, the conference was told.
Dr Patrick Walsh, head of the Granada Institute, said offenders were usually very articulate, of above average intelligence and well-educated.
They also tended to have histories of well-paid employment in jobs that often require planning and organising.
Dr Walshe's findings were based on a study of 35 recent cases involving the downloading of child pornography, covering men aged from early 20s to over 60.
He called for a national response, integrating the efforts of the judicial system, the gardaí, the probation and welfare service, the prison service and therapeutic and health services, to promote child protection.
Practically all of those in the study reported becoming satiated and bored with the images they down-loaded, leading them to seek new images of a more sexual or extreme kind.
However, various studies show that only about a third of those who use child pornography also abuse children.
Describing the characteristics of the men studied, he said many reported being ignored or emotionally abandoned by their mothers, while being over-controlled by them; their fathers being distant and peripheral to family life; being valued for their academic achievements in school, while not being involved in sports.
"These men presented as loners, as isolated, as depressed, as deriving little sense of joy in life, and often report feelings of boredom, powerlessness and anxiety," he said.
"Although almost two-thirds of them are or were married, their marriages are very often characterised as lacking emotional connection.
"While being intellectually articulate, they are emotionally illiterate."
He added: "They have few friends and the friendships they have are superficial. They lack a capacity for emotional intimacy and they don't seem to be able to respond to the emotional needs of their own children or their partners."
Asked why all this led to their sexual fascination with children, he said many of them did not go beyond experiences such as pre-puberty self-exploration with other children to develop age-appropriate sexual relationships.