Police perceptions of the impact that ADHD has on conducting cognitive interviews with youth

Abstract

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in youth witnesses, victims and suspects can significantly impact the investigative interviewing process. In this study, 102 Child Protection Investigation Unit (CPIU) detectives were asked to read four vignettes of adolescents being interviewed by police, two as witnesses and two as suspects, in which one witness and one suspect display ADHD-type behaviour. The detectives rated the degree to which the behaviour in each vignette would impact the interviewer’s ability to use the 10 key components of the cognitive interview (CI). They perceived ADHD-type interviewee behaviour as significantly hampering the use of all 10 CI components. There is also a significant difference between the detectives’ rated severity of each CI component; they rated Encourage Concentration, Mentally Recreate and Change Order as exerting the strongest impact on the interview process. Implications for police perceptions of training options, needs and preferences regarding interviewing youth with ADHD are discussed.

Keywords:

• ADHD
• cognitive interview
• police
• youth
• vignette; CPIU; interviewing; detective; forensic; investigative interviewing.

Ethical standards

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the assistance provided by the Queensland Police Service. The views expressed in this material are those of the authors, and are not those of the Queensland Police Service. Responsibility for any errors of omission or commission remains with the authors. The Queensland Police Service expressly disclaims any liability for any damage resulting from the use of the material contained in this publication and will not be responsible for any loss, howsoever arising, from use of or reliance on this material.

Conflict of Interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the Griffith University Human Research Ethics Committee and the Queensland Police Service Research Committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study