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The Productivity of Wh- Prompts in Child Forensic Interviews.

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

Repository DOI


Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Ahern, Elizabeth C 
Andrews, Samantha J 
Stolzenberg, Stacia N 
Lyon, Thomas D 

Abstract

Child witnesses are often asked wh- prompts (what, how, why, who, when, where) in forensic interviews. However, little research has examined the ways in which children respond to different wh- prompts, and no previous research has investigated productivity differences among wh- prompts in investigative interviews. This study examined the use and productivity of wh- prompts in 95 transcripts of 4- to 13-year-olds alleging sexual abuse in child investigative interviews. What-how questions about actions elicited the most productive responses during both the rapport building and substantive phases. Future research and practitioner training should consider distinguishing among different wh- prompts.

Description

Keywords

child sexual abuse, forensic interviewing, question types, rapport building, wh- prompts, Child, Child Abuse, Sexual, Child, Preschool, Cooperative Behavior, Female, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Interview, Psychological, Male, Professional-Patient Relations, Truth Disclosure

Journal Title

J Interpers Violence

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0886-2605
1552-6518

Volume Title

Publisher

SAGE Publications
Sponsorship
This research was supported in part by the Nuffield Foundation, Jacobs Foundation, an NICHD Grant HD047290, and an ESRC studentship.