Disclosures of Sexual and Physical Abuse across Repeated Interviews

ABSTRACT

This study examined the recorded interviews of 132 children between 3 and 16-years of age who were involved in a forensic investigation evaluating allegations of sexual and/or physical abuse. As part of this investigation, two interviews were conducted over a 5-day period. The interviews were analyzed to examine how frequently these children disclosed substantiated allegations of abuse when asked directly about these experiences in one or both interviews. Results revealed that 39.2% of children with substantiated sexual abuse and 55.6% of those with substantiated physical abuse denied these experiences in one or both interviews. The denial rate was highest among school aged children (6- to-10-year- olds), as over a third of the girls and more than half of the boys in this age group denied the substantiated allegations in one or both interviews. Recantations were also relatively common, as 24% of the children who disclosed sexual and/or physical abuse prior to the assessment denied the allegations in one or both interviews. The youngest children (3- to 5-year-olds) were most likely to be inconsistent in their denials/disclosures across interviews. Custody status and relation to the perpetrator also predicted denials/disclosures of sexual, but not physical abuse. Overall, the data suggest that denials of both sexual and physical abuse are quite common and higher than rates found in most archival file reviews.

Keywords:

• Denials
• Disclosures
• Sexual abuse

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect. All correspondence reading this paper should be directed to Professor Mitchell Eisen, [email protected].

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, Children’s Bureau [90-CA-1554].

Notes on contributors

Mitchell L. Eisen

Mitchell L. Eisen, Professor of Psychology, California State University, Los Angeles; Gail S. Goodman, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, University of California, Davis; Jessica Diep, Research & Evaluation Program Manager, City of Los Angeles Mayor’s Office of Gang Reduction & Youth Development; Marianne Lacsamana, Grant Coordinator at California California Professional Association on the Abuse of Children; Lauren J Ristrom, Masters Student, California State University, Los Angeles; Jian Jian Qin, Pofessor of Psychology, California State University, Sacramento