TY - JOUR
T1 - The utility of direct questions in eliciting subjective content from children disclosing sexual abuse
AU - Roosevelt, Stacia
AU - Williams, Shanna
AU - McWilliams, Kelly
AU - Liang, Catherine
AU - Lyon, Thomas D.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Grant HD087685 to Thomas D. Lyon.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2021/6
Y1 - 2021/6
N2 - Background: Children alleging sexual abuse rarely exhibit emotion when disclosing, but they may be able to describe their subjective reactions to abuse if asked. Objective: This study examined the extent to which different types of questions in child sexual abuse interviews elicited subjective content, namely emotional reactions, cognitive content, and physical sensations. Participants and setting: The study included transcripts of 205 Child Advocacy Center interviews with 4- to 12-year-old children alleging sexual abuse. Methods: We coded questions for question type, distinguishing among invitations, wh- questions, yes/no and forced-choice questions, and suggestive questions. We coded both questions and answers for whether they referenced subjective content. Results: When questions did not reference subjective content, the most productive questions were invitations, though they elicited subjective content less than 5% of the time. When questions specifically referenced subjective content, children were likely to explicitly mention such content, particularly in response to “how feel” and “what think” questions. Children's responsiveness and productivity was enhanced by requests to elaborate on their subjective responses, and both emotional and physical reactions could be elicited. There was little evidence of non-responsiveness or counterintuitive reactions to abuse. Younger children were less likely than older children to provide subjective responses to questions that did not reference subjective content, but were no less likely to do so when asked questions with subjective content. Conclusions: Children, even young children, can be successfully encouraged to provide subjective content about sexual abuse, particularly when free recall questions are supplemented with “how feel” or “what think” questions.
AB - Background: Children alleging sexual abuse rarely exhibit emotion when disclosing, but they may be able to describe their subjective reactions to abuse if asked. Objective: This study examined the extent to which different types of questions in child sexual abuse interviews elicited subjective content, namely emotional reactions, cognitive content, and physical sensations. Participants and setting: The study included transcripts of 205 Child Advocacy Center interviews with 4- to 12-year-old children alleging sexual abuse. Methods: We coded questions for question type, distinguishing among invitations, wh- questions, yes/no and forced-choice questions, and suggestive questions. We coded both questions and answers for whether they referenced subjective content. Results: When questions did not reference subjective content, the most productive questions were invitations, though they elicited subjective content less than 5% of the time. When questions specifically referenced subjective content, children were likely to explicitly mention such content, particularly in response to “how feel” and “what think” questions. Children's responsiveness and productivity was enhanced by requests to elaborate on their subjective responses, and both emotional and physical reactions could be elicited. There was little evidence of non-responsiveness or counterintuitive reactions to abuse. Younger children were less likely than older children to provide subjective responses to questions that did not reference subjective content, but were no less likely to do so when asked questions with subjective content. Conclusions: Children, even young children, can be successfully encouraged to provide subjective content about sexual abuse, particularly when free recall questions are supplemented with “how feel” or “what think” questions.
KW - Disclosure
KW - Emotions
KW - Sexual abuse
KW - Subjective reactions
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U2 - 10.1016/j.chiabu.2019.02.014
DO - 10.1016/j.chiabu.2019.02.014
M3 - Article
C2 - 30952365
AN - SCOPUS:85063663567
SN - 0145-2134
VL - 116
JO - Child Abuse and Neglect
JF - Child Abuse and Neglect
M1 - 103964
ER -