The Utility of Direct Questions in Eliciting Subjective Content from Children Disclosing Sexual Abuse
Date
2019
Journal Title
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Volume Title
Publisher
Child Abuse & Neglect
Abstract
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.
Description
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Keywords
child sexual abuse, disclosure, subjective reactions, emotion
Citation
Stolzenberg, S., Williams, S., McWilliams, K., Liang, C., & Lyon, T. D. (2019). The Utility of Direct Questions in Eliciting Subjective Content from Children Disclosing Sexual Abuse. Forthcoming, Child Abuse & Neglect, 19-8.