Forensic interviewers’ experiences of interviewing children of different ages

Figures & data

Table 1. Descriptive statistics, means and standard deviations of self-reported frequency of use of different interviewing components.

Interview component	(1) Never	(2) Rarely	(3) Sometimes	(4) Often	(5) Always	Mean (SD)	Completed Training Mean (SD)	Not completed training Mean (SD)
Tell ground rules	–	–	1.2%	24.7%	74.1%	4.73 (0.47)	4.70 (0.49)	4.81 (0.40)
Early rapport building	–	4.7%	10.6%	47.1%	37.6%	4.18 (0.80)	4.20 (0.80)	4.10 (0.83)
Practice narrative	3.5%	3.5%	11.8%	49.4%	31.8%	4.02 (0.95)	4.02 (0.92)	4.05 (1.07)
Drawings	5.9%	41.2%	44.7%	8.2%	–	2.55 (0.73)	2.53 (0.69)	2.62 (0.87)

Note: Means are based on a scale ranging from 1 (Never) to 5 (Always). Of the participants who responded to the survey items above, a total of 62 participants had completed their training and 19 had not completed their training.

Table 2. Descriptive statistics, means and standard deviations of perceived importance of different interviewing components.

Interview component	(1) Not at all important	(2) Low importance	(3) Medium importance	(4) High importance	(5) Very high importance	Mean (SD)	Completed Training Mean (SD)	Not completed training Mean (SD)
Tell ground rules	–	1.2%	9.4%	28.2%	61.2%	4.49 (0.72)	4.50 (0.74)	4.47 (0.61)
Early rapport building	–	–	1.2%	8.3%	90.5%	4.89 (0.35)	4.90 (0.35)	4.84 (0.38)
Practice narrative	5.9%	10.6%	21.2%	31.8%	30.6%	3.71 (1.18)	3.65 (1.19)	3.84 (1.26)
Drawings	8.3%	26.2%	40.5%	17.9%	7.1%	2.89 (1.03)	2.77 (1.05)	3.21 (0.98)
Open-ended questions	–	–	2.4%	8.2%	89.4%	4.87 (0.40)	4.94 (0.25)	4.79 (0.54)
Suggestive questions	49.4%	27.1%	17.6%	4.7%	1.2%	1.81 (0.97)	1.79 (0.96)	1.79 (0.92)

Note: Means are based on a scale ranging from 1 (Not at all important) to 5 (Very high importance). Of the participants who responded to the survey items above, a total of 62 participants had completed their training and 19 had not completed their training.

Table 3. Themes and sub-themes for open-ended responses about main challenges when interviewing children of different ages.

Child age	Themes	Sub-themes	n (%)
Preschool			77 responses
	Developmental challenges
		Limited verbal abilities	33 (42.9%)
		Short attention span	21 (27.3%)
		Insufficient memory	8 (10.4%)
	Interviewing challenges
		Time pressure	24 (31.2%)
		Transition to allegation	11 (14.3%)
		Difficulties open-ended prompts	10 (13.0%)
		Specific without being leading	9 (11.7%)
	Legal challenges
		Lack of specific details^a	13 (16.9%)
		Brief incoherent testimonies	9 (11.7%)
		Credibility criteria	5 (6.5%)
School-age			71 responses
	Barriers for disclosure
		Think about consequences	31 (43.7%)
		Protective of parents	17 (23.9%)
		Loyalty	13 (18.3%)
		Shame and guilt	12 (16.9%)
	Interview-related factors
		Easiest to interview	10 (14.1%)
		Provide support	10 (14.1%)
		Facilitate free narrative	7 (9.9%)
Adolescent			75 responses
	Content of their testimony
		Do not want to disclose	28 (37.3%)
		Lack of details	8 (10.7%)
		Avoid embarrassing subjects	5 (6.7%)
	Barriers for disclosing
		Think about consequences	17 (22.7%)
		Negative attitudes	16 (21.3%)
		Loyalty	10 (13.3%)
	Demands on the interviewer
		Difficult building rapport	12 (16%)
		Alternative explanations	6 (8%)
		Need knowledge on teen life	5 (6.7%)

Note: ^aThe interviewers discussed the need to know the time and location of the crime, the number of occasions it occurred, prepositions such as over/under or inside/outside etc.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, [MM], upon a reasonable request. The data are not publicly available due to information that could compromise the privacy of research participants.