Credibility Judgment Predictors for Child Sexual Abuse Reports in Forensic Psychiatric Evaluations
Date
2019
Journal Title
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Publisher
Psychiatry investigation
Abstract
Objective We intended to analyze the credibility judgment in written forensic psychiatric reports of child sexual abuse registered in
Southern Taiwan.
Methods Ninety-six cases of child sexual abuse between August 2010 and October 2017 encountered in two hospitals were analyzed.
The results in these reports were categorized into credible and non-credible. We identified the factors that distinguished between the two
groups in bivariate analyses using chi-square test. A binary logistic regression analysis was performed to determine whether the factors
that significantly correlated in the bivariate analyses were independent predictors of credible judgments.
Results Among 96 cases, 70 (73%) were judged as credible. Consistent testimonies of children (odds ratio=40.82) and multiple abuse
events (odds ratio=6.05) were positive variables independently related to the sexual abuse allegations judged as credible.
Conclusion The number of allegations judged as credible in this study was slightly higher than that reported in other studies. Our
findings about predictors for credible cases are not in line with those reported previously. Due to the differences in resources of the cases
and backgrounds of the evaluators among multiple studies, direct comparisons with previous studies must be treated with caution.
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Keywords
International Resources, Taiwan, child abuse, sexual abuse, expert testimony, Child psychiatry, Forensic psychiatry
Citation
Wang, L. H., Hung, Y. Y., Chow, P. C., Chu, C. S., Li, H. J., Lu, T., & Tsai, C. H. (2019). Credibility Judgment Predictors for Child Sexual Abuse Reports in Forensic Psychiatric Evaluations. Psychiatry investigation, 16(2), 139-144.