The Use of the NICHD Protocol to Enhance the Quantity of Details Obtained from Children with Low Verbal Abilities in Investigative Interviews: A Pilot Study

Abstract

This study explored the impact of the NICHD protocol to enhance the quantity and content of details reported by children with low verbal abilities. Thirty-four children aged from 6 to 14 were interviewed following their experience of sexual abuse. Half the interviews were conducted using the NICHD protocol. Results indicate that NICHD interviews contained more open-ended prompts and more details overall. Open-ended invitations yielded significantly more detailed responses than did close-ended questions for both children with low and average verbal abilities.Although children with low verbal abilities provided fewer details than children with average verbal abilities, the NICHD protocol helped them provide detailed responses containing the core elements of the sexual abuse. Conducting investigative interviews with child victims of sexual abuse is a complex task for an interviewer, yet is even more challenging with children with intellectual difficulties. For example, results of analog studies (Henry & Gudjonsson, 1999) and a field study (Dion, Cyr, Richard, & McDuff, 2006) indicate that children with intellectual disabilities are likely to provide fewer details when asked to recall an event. Above all cognitive abilities, verbal skills appear to be the most related to children's recall performance (Brown & Pipe, 2003;Chae & Ceci, 2005;Dion et al.). These results are of particular importance considering that children with mental retardation or speech and language difficulties are respectively 4 and almost 3 times more likely to be sexually abused than children without disabilities (Sullivan & Knutson, 2000).It is therefore necessary to evaluate interview techniques that might be useful in helping these children talk about their abuse. The objective of the present study is to explore the impact of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) protocol to enhance details given by children with low verbal abilities (LVA) and to document any differences in response to distinct types of questions. Intelligence and Verbal AbilitiesMany researchers have explored intelligence in relation to children's abilities to recount an event in various settings, such as a staged event (e.g., Brown & Pipe, 2003;Chae & Ceci, 2005), a video (Henry & Gudjonsson, 2004), or sexual abuse (Dion et al., 2006). When looking at general intelligence, results of studies indicate that the amount of information produced by children with mental retardation during open-ended recall is often lower than that produced by children of the same age with typical intellectual development (Henry & Gudjonsson, 2003Michel, Gordon, Ornstein, & Simpson, 2000).However, inconsistent results are found when using different measures of intelligence (e.g., receptive language, expressive language, visual-motor coordination) to explore the relationship between more specific cognitive abilities (e.g., verbal and nonverbal abilities) and recall. Four explanations are possible for these conflicting results, including: (a) verbal intelligence ...

Transfer of Skills in the Context of Non‐Suggestive Investigative Interviews: Impact of Structured Interview Protocol and Feedback

“…Indeed, some researchers (Graffam Walker, 1999;Poole & Lamb, 1998) have indicated that older children often see the interview as a test that they must pass successfully. Moreover, recent research has shown that sexually abused children often present below-average cognitive functioning (Daignault & Hébert, 2009;Dion & Cyr, 2008;Dion, Cyr, Richard, & McDuff, 2006), which affects their comprehension of the task at hand and of the questions asked, as well as their capacity to recount their sexual abuse experience. These results suggest that feedback could help investigators improve their use of the protocol when interviewing preadolescents.…”

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

“…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, ). Training programs often involve trainees conducting practice interviews (Yi, Lamb, & Jo, ; Yi et al, ) and attending group training sessions, which may include peer review (Myklebust & Bjørklund, ; Stolzenberg & Lyon, ; Rischke et al, ).…”

The investigative interviewing of children and other vulnerable witnesses: Psychological research and working/professional practice

“…In Henry and Gudjonsson (1999, p. 491) emphasized that ‘there is little research on child witnesses with mental retardation’. They reviewed the pioneering study by Dent (1986) and our study of the usefulness of the cognitive interview for children with mild learning disabilities (Milne & Bull, 1996). In their own study children with average or low intelligence (mean IQ=60) witnessed a staged event and the next day were interviewed about it in line with the government's memorandum of good practice .…”