Doctoral Dissertation Research: Balancing Costs and Benefits of a New Method of Eliciting Children's Disclosures

研究人员、临床医生和儿童福利专业人员都认识到，不披露和延迟报告虐待儿童是一个严重的问题，阻碍了对虐待受害者的识别和治疗。由于这种担忧，迫切需要有效的采访技巧，在增加披露的同时保持非提示性。目前的研究将调查这样一种被称为推定供词(PC)的采访技巧，即采访者告诉孩子，肇事者已经说出了所发生的一切，并希望[孩子]说出真相。这项技术继承了社会认知理论的戒律，因为它直接解决了内部和外部对儿童动机的影响？S通过提供保证和明确呼吁说出真相来揭示。两项研究发现PC在增加成年人的信息披露方面是有效的？越轨行为。然而，当儿童以前接触到关于不当行为指控的错误信息时，PC是否会增加虚假报告还没有得到测试。这样做是至关重要的，因为在实际的虐待调查中，儿童经常与其他人(例如照顾者)交谈，这可能使他们接触到关于不正确的虐待指控的错误信息。在目前的研究中，孩子们将经历一个实验室游戏环节，在此过程中，将会或不会发生违规行为(玩具破裂)。随后，孩子们会被一位家长询问，家长已经或没有得到在游戏中发生了不好的事情的提示性信息。最后，孩子们将经历一次调查性面试，在面试中，面试者将使用PC或控制指令。实验方法将使我们能够清楚地测试PC对真假披露的影响，以及暴露在错误信息中如何增强其有效性。结果可能会促进我们对某些调查性采访技巧的了解，这些技巧专门设计来促使不情愿的儿童披露信息。此外，这项研究将为本科生提供机会，使他们了解进行科学研究的过程。

Researchers, clinicians, and child welfare professionals alike recognize that nondisclosure and delayed reporting of child maltreatment is a significant concern that prevents the identification and treatment of abuse victims. Because of this concern, interviewing techniques effective in increasing disclosures while remaining non-suggestive are sorely needed. The current study will investigate such an interviewing technique termed the putative confession (PC), which involves an interviewer telling children that the perpetrator has already told everything that happened and wants [the child] to tell the truth. The technique follows from precepts of Social Cognitive Theory in that it directly addresses internal and external motivational influences on children?s disclosures by both providing reassurance and making an explicit appeal to tell the truth. Two studies have found that PC is effective in increasing disclosures of adults? transgressions. However, whether PC may augment false reports when children have been previously exposed to misinformation regarding allegations of wrongdoing has not been tested. It is critical to do so because in actual maltreatment investigations children often experience conversations with others (e.g. caregivers) that may expose them to misinformation about incorrect abuse allegations. In the current study, children will experience a laboratory play session during which a transgression (toys breaking) will or will not occur. Subsequently, children will be questioned by a parent, who has or has not been given suggestive information that something bad happened during play. Finally, children will experience an investigative interview in which the interviewer will employ either the PC or control instructions. The experimental methodology will allow a clear test of the impact of PC on true and false disclosures, and of how exposure to misinformation may augment its efficacy.Results have the potential to advance our knowledge regarding how certain investigative interview technique specifically designed to elicit disclosures from reluctant children may operate in the field. Additionally, the research will provide opportunities for introducing undergraduates to the process of conducting scientific research.