Facilitating Children's Accurate Reporting of Prior Conversations about Adult Transgressions

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 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Child maltreatment is widely recognized as one of the most serious threats to children's well-being. The cost of sexual abuse alone has been estimated at $23 billion annually. The most important evidence in child sexual abuse cases is the child's report, including their interactions with suspects and their disclosures of abuse. Although children are likely to talk with many individuals about their allegations (caregivers, medical professionals, social workers, attorneys), little is known about how children remember or report prior conversations about abuse. These prior conversations become central in later assessments of children's credibility; indeed, there is evidence that virtually all children testifing about sexual abuse in criminal court are questioned about their conversations with the suspect and with persons to whom they disclosed abuse. The current study will identify interviewing methods that facilitate children's accurate reporting of prior conversations while minimizing false reports. The project will address three specific aims: 1) To assess children's recall of prior conversations with adults suspected of transgressions; 2) To assess children's recall of disclosure conversations; 3) To identify linguistic difficulties in eliciting children's reports of conversations. The study will examine how well children recall conversations under different conditions, varying whether a transgression occurs, what the instigator of the alleged transgression has encouraged the child to report, and what an interviewer has suggested to the child. The findings will help us design questions about conversations that can be used both in our field research examining investigative interviews and, ultimately, by professionals who question children about maltreatment.