Danby Meaghan C, Sharman Stefanie J, Klettke Bianca
School of Psychology, Deakin University, Burwood, VIC, Australia.
Psychiatr Psychol Law. 2021 May 26;29(3):456-470. doi: 10.1080/13218719.2021.1917012. eCollection 2022.
Adults' assessments of the credibility of children's reports are affected by factors including the frequency of abuse, reporting delays and the child's age. The present study examined whether similar factors affect the perceived credibility of children reporting physical abuse, which is more common than sexual abuse. Two hundred and eight mock jurors read a simulated transcript of a child reporting physical abuse to police and made credibility ratings. Within each transcript, abuse frequency (once, repeated), reporting timing (recent, delayed), police question type (open, closed) and child age (6 or 10 years) were manipulated. The child was considered more credible when the abuse was only experienced once and reported shortly after it occurred, and when prompted with open questions. The child's age did not affect credibility judgments. Current findings support recommendations to prioritise open questions with children and provide evidence for extension of the benefits of open questions to children's credibility.
成年人对儿童报告可信度的评估会受到多种因素的影响，包括虐待发生的频率、报告延迟情况以及儿童的年龄。本研究调查了类似因素是否会影响儿童报告身体虐待时的可信度，身体虐待比性虐待更为常见。208名模拟陪审员阅读了一份儿童向警方报告身体虐待情况的模拟笔录，并给出可信度评分。在每份笔录中，虐待频率（一次、多次）、报告时间（近期、延迟）、警方提问类型（开放式、封闭式）以及儿童年龄（6岁或10岁）均受到操控。当虐待仅发生一次且在发生后不久就进行报告，以及在被问及开放式问题时，儿童被认为更具可信度。儿童的年龄并未影响可信度判断。当前研究结果支持优先对儿童提出开放式问题的建议，并为将开放式问题的益处扩展至儿童可信度方面提供了证据。
