Skip to main content
Article
32. Eliciting maltreated and non-maltreated children’s transgression disclosures: Narrative practice rapport building and a putative confession.
Child Development (Published 2014) (2013)
  • Thomas D. Lyon, University of Southern California
  • Lindsay Wandrey, University of California - Irvine
  • Elizabeth C. Ahern, University of Cambridge
  • Robyn Licht, University of Southern California
  • Megan P.Y. Sim, University of Cambridge
  • Jodi A. Quas, University of California, Irvine
Abstract
This study tested the effects of narrative practice rapport building (asking open-ended questions about a neutral event) and a putative confession (telling the child an adult “told me everything that happened and he wants you to tell the truth”) on 4- to 9-year-old maltreated and nonmaltreated children’s reports of an interaction with a stranger who asked them to keep toy breakage a secret (n = 264). Only one third of children who received no interview manipulations disclosed breakage; in response to a putative confession, one half disclosed. Narrative practice rapport building did not affect the likelihood of disclosure. Maltreated children and nonmaltreated children responded similarly to the manipulations. Neither narrative practice rapport building nor a putative confession increased false reports.
Keywords
  • child interviewing,
  • child testimony,
  • child abuse,
  • child maltreatment,
  • child witnesses,
  • child neglect,
  • child psychology
Publication Date
November, 2013
Citation Information
Lyon, T. D., Wandrey, L., Ahern, E. C, Licht, R., Sim, M. & Quas, J. A. (2014). Eliciting maltreated and non-maltreated children’s transgression disclosures: Narrative practice rapport building and a putative confession. Child Development, 85, 1756-1769. doi:10.1111/cdev.12223