Interviewer Questions and Content Analysis of Children's Statements of Sexual Abuse

Abstract

Effects of forensic interview techniques on the production of free-narrative and Criteria-Based Content Analysis (CBCA) criteria were assessed in police interviews with 48 children (ages 3 to 16) who alleged they had been sexually abused. These allegations were later categorized as confirmed (n = 35) or highly doubtful (n = 13) based on information obtained independent of the statements. Two raters independently coded all interviewer utterances and children's responses, and four other raters evaluated the transcripts for the presence of CBCA content criteria. As predicted, open questions yielded more free narrative and CBCA criteria than other types of questions. Confirmed statements of abuse contained more CBCA criteria than highly doubtful statements, and statements made by older children contained more CBCA criteria than those by younger children. The results support the use of open questions for eliciting free narrative and the use of CBCA to assess the validity of children's allegations of sexual abuse.