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Interviewing children about trauma: Problems with “Specific” questions
Author(s) -
Peterson Carole,
Biggs Marleen
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of traumatic stress
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.259
H-Index - 134
eISSN - 1573-6598
pISSN - 0894-9867
DOI - 10.1002/jts.2490100208
Subject(s) - interview , confusion , ambiguity , psychology , affect (linguistics) , quality (philosophy) , developmental psychology , psychotherapist , clinical psychology , linguistics , philosophy , communication , epistemology , political science , psychoanalysis , law
A methodological ambiguity is described that may well adversely affect the quality of information provided by young child witnesses. Because the information children provide during interviews is sometimes the only evidence in forensic situations, its quality is a serious concern. “Specific” questions are often necessary to elicit enough information, but we describe a confusion between wh‐ questions (which request particular information) and yes/no questions (which merely require confirmation or disconfirmation). Research in which children are systematically interviewed about stressful medical experiences is reviewed, and we present results of a pilot investigation in which 2‐ to 13‐year‐old children were interviewed about traumatic injuries necessitating hospital treatment. Yes/no questions were problematic for preschoolers. Implications for testimony are discussed.