Interviewing Pre-school Age Victims of Child Sexual Abuse: Interviewing Methods and Disclosure Outcomes

Disclosure rates among pre-school age victims of alleged sexual abuse were related to the type of investigative interview (forensic evaluation or forensic interview) that they received following a report of abuse. Variables expected to affect the likelihood of the child making a valid disclosure of sexual abuse including the relationship of the child to the offender and the severity of the abuse were also examined. The results indicated that children who underwent a structured, one-time 30 minute forensic interview were significantly less likely to make a valid disclosure of sexual abuse than children who underwent a semi-structured, therapeutic style evaluation over the course of several weeks. The current findings do not suggest that either offender relationship or severity of abuse significantly moderate the relationship between interview type and disclosure status. Limitations of the current study and future directions are discussed. INDEX WORDS: Sexual abuse, Interviewing methods, Forensic evaluation, Forensic interview, Pre-school age, Disclosure, Offender relationship, Child victim INTERVIEWING PRE-SCHOOL AGE VICTIMS OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE: INTERVIEWING METHODS AND DISCLOSURE OUTCOMES