Testing the Value of Rapport Building to Enhance Adolescent Disclosures in Online and In-Person Interviews

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In contrast to large bodies of research devoted to testing methods of improving children’s and adults’ eyewitness capabilities, no comparable amount of research has been directed toward testing methods of enhancing teenagers’ reporting abilities. This omission is striking, considering the sheer number of teen victims of and witnesses to crime: They are second only to young adults in their risk for experiencing violent crime, and teens comprise 22% of abuse and neglect victims. When teens are questioned, it is unclear which of two very different best-practice types of interview strategies would be most helpful at eliciting disclosures from them: strategies developed for children (i.e., largely ages 3-12) or strategies developed for adults (i.e., college age and older). Teenagers’ general reluctance to tell adults about their negative or risky experiences, combined with their increasingly common engagement in risky behavior, feelings of autonomy about their actions, and allegiance to peers who may have acted in delinquent or risky ways all decrease their willingness to disclose when they have experienced or witnessed crime. Yet, in order to protect these teens, law enforcement, as well as parents, teachers, and other concerned adults, need guidance on how best to overcome this reluctance and elicit complete and accurate reports from teens. The purpose of the present research is to provide this guidance. Two studies will test the effects of pre-interview rapport building strategies on 14-19 year-olds’ reports of a prior misdeed they committed (Study 1, n=306) or negative event they witnessed (Study 2, n=306). Rapport building, which is designed to foster open communication between an interviewer and interviewee, includes a number of different strategies. Three will be compared in the current studies: (a) interviewers and teens will begin with a mutual self-disclosure activity, which has been shown to increase reporting in adults; (b) interviewers will begin by having teens practice answering open-ended questions, an activity that increases reporting in children, or (c) interviewers will begin by asking closed-ended questions (e.g., How old are you?), a traditional low rapport approach. Half of the interviews will be conducted in person and half will be conducted remotely via Zoom. Undergraduate and graduate students will assist in all phases, and a postdoctoral scholar will co-direct the studies. Findings will provide much-needed insight into the efficacy of rapport building on teenager disclosures. Findings will also reveal whether online interviewing formats are a viable alternative to in-person interviews with teens when the latter are precluded because locations are remote or because of safety concerns. Overall, the studies will lay the foundation for the development of best-practice interviewing strategies for vulnerable and often overlooked teenage victims and witnesses.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.