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Is interviewer support associated with the reduced reluctance and enhanced informativeness of alleged child abuse victims?

Accepted version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

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Authors

Hershkowitz, Irit 
Lamb, Michael E 
Karni-Visel, Yael 
Ahern, Elizabeth C 

Abstract

Child maltreatment victims are often reluctant to report abuse when formally interviewed. Evidence-based guidelines like the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Standard Investigative Interview Protocol do not adequately address such reluctance because they are focused on cognitive rather than socio-emotional strategies. The present study was designed to determine whether the Revised NICHD Protocol, which emphasizes supportive interviewing more than the Standard Protocol does, might predict increases in the overall informativeness and reductions in the reluctance of alleged victims. A total of 254 interviews, 166 using the Revised Protocol and 88 using the Standard Protocol, were conducted with 4.06- to 13.98-year-old children (M = 9.20, SD = 2.49) who disclosed multiple incidents of physical abuse by their parents and were thus expected to be more reluctant than victims of extrafamilial abuse. We coded indices of interviewer support and question types, children’s reluctance, and informativeness in each utterance during the substantive phases of the interviews. The Revised Protocol was associated with better interviewer support and questioning as well as reduced reluctance and increased informativeness on the part of the children. These findings document the value of training interviewers to attend to the socio-emotional needs of suspected abuse victims during investigative interviews.

Description

Keywords

Journal Title

Law and Human Behavior

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

1573-661X

Volume Title

Publisher

American Psychological Association Inc.
Sponsorship
Jacobs Foundation (2012-1024)
Haruv Institute (unknown)
Nuffield and Jacobs Foundations, Haruv Institute