Impact of interviewers’ supportive comments and children's reluctance to cooperate during sexual abuse disclosure

Lewy, Jennifer; Cyr, Mireille; Dion, Jacinthe

doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2015.03.002

Cited by 43 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…In addition, researchers will want to consider interviewer behaviors that might impair or disrupt rapport (e.g., interruptions, assumptions of inability, disbelief, challenging children's comments, devaluing children's stated feelings). Many of these have been noted to occur in interviews in the laboratory (e.g., Zajac & Hayne, ) and in the field (e.g., Lewy, Cyr, & Dion, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing Rapport with Children in Forensic Interviews: Systematic Review of Experimental Research

Saywitz

Larson

Hobbs

et al. 2015

Behavioral Sci & The Law

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The vast majority of guidelines recommend that developing rapport with children is essential for successful forensic child interviewing; however, the question remains as to whether there is a sufficient body of scientific research to generate evidence-based guidelines for developing rapport with children in legal contexts. To answer this question, we conducted a systematic review of the literature to identify experimental studies of the effects of rapport-building methods on the reliability of children's reports. Independent raters applied 12 exclusion criteria to the 2,761 potentially relevant articles located by electronic and hand searches of the literature. Experimental studies were few. Although studies to date are a beginning, the overall scientific base is weak regarding even basic issues such as how to best define rapport and the efficacy of common rapport-building techniques. This systematic review highlights what we know, what we do not know, and how much more we need to know to create evidence-based best practice. Recommendations for reshaping the research agenda are discussed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing Rapport with Children in Forensic Interviews: Systematic Review of Experimental Research

Saywitz

Larson

Hobbs

et al. 2015

Behavioral Sci & The Law

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“…"I talk to children every day, and they tell me about things that have happened to them"). Three field studies (Hershkowitz, 2009;Ruddock, 2006;Teoh & Lamb, 2013) have shown that interviewer supportiveness was positively correlated with the informativeness of young witnesses, while Lewy et al (2015) found an association between unsupportiveness and impaired informativeness. Two of these studies (Hershkowitz, 2009;Teoh & Lamb, 2013) also showed a positive correlation between enhanced support and the informativeness of less cooperative children.…”

Section: Reluctant Children and Interviewer Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Blasbalg¹,

Hershkowitz²,

Lamb³

et al. 2019

Law and Human Behavior

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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.

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“…Successful training programs ensure that interviewers are continually monitored and given specific feedback on their behaviors (Anderson et al, ; Benson & Powell, ; Lamb, Orbach, Hershkowitz, Esplin, & Horowitz, ; Lamb et al, ; Lewy et al, ; Orbach & Lamb, ; Price & Roberts, ; Rischke, Roberts, & Price, ). The feedback interviewers receive can be in‐person or on‐line (Benson & Powell, ; Powell, Guadagno, & Benson, ), as well as written (Dion & Cyr, ; Cyr & Lamb, ; Yi, Jo, & Lamb, ) or involve a combination of these mechanisms (Lamb et al, ; Rischke et al, ; Price & Roberts, ).…”

Section: Child Forensic Interviewer Training Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies examining child forensic interviews have shown that interviewer support both increases the likelihood of disclosure by abused children (Hershkowitz, Lamb, & Katz, ; Hershkowitz et al, ) and enhances their informativeness (Hershkowitz, ; Lewy, Cyr, & Dion, ; Ruddock, ). Unfortunately, however, interviewers not trained to be supportive provided less support and behaved more coercively in response to reluctance, which in turn intensified the children's uncooperativeness (Hershkowitz et al, ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The NICHD Protocol is the most extensively researched child interviewing guidance and has been examined in studies involving thousands of child forensic interviews around the world (Lamb et al, ). Although the NICHD Protocol includes a structured rapport‐building phase, it largely emphasizes cognitive factors associated with children's memory retrieval rather than socio‐emotional factors associated with children's reluctance (Hershkowitz et al, ) and in itself does not promote supportive behavior by interviewers (Lewy et al, ). Given the substantial evidence that support is beneficial and that interviewers struggle to respond appropriately to children's reluctance, the Revised Protocol (RP) was designed to increase children's emotional comfort during investigative interviews.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Changes in Interviewers' Use of Supportive Techniques during the Revised Protocol Training

Hershkowitz

Ahern

Lamb

et al. 2017

Applied Cognitive Psychology

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Although many children are reluctant to disclose abuse due to embarrassment, fear, and the anticipation of negative consequences, researchers have only recently begun to examine whether forensic interviewers can be trained to manage children's reluctance. In this study, the supportiveness of 53 experienced interviewers was assessed in their interviews with 321 3-to 14-yearold alleged victims, each conducted during the course of training to use the Revised Protocol (RP). The use of support increased, especially between levels evident at baseline and in the last two interviews assessed. Over time, instances of inadequate support and insensitivity to children's reluctance became less common. Younger children received proportionally more support, including inadequate support, than older children. The RP training did not affect the extensive use of free recall-based questions. Findings highlight the benefits of continued supervision and training.

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Impact of interviewers’ supportive comments and children's reluctance to cooperate during sexual abuse disclosure

Cited by 43 publications

References 25 publications

Developing Rapport with Children in Forensic Interviews: Systematic Review of Experimental Research

Developing Rapport with Children in Forensic Interviews: Systematic Review of Experimental Research

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

Changes in Interviewers' Use of Supportive Techniques during the Revised Protocol Training

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