Psychology Department, CRIdee, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy.
e-Campus University, Novedrate, Italy.
J Child Sex Abus. 2022 Aug-Sep;31(6):743-757. doi: 10.1080/10538712.2022.2131669. Epub 2022 Oct 5.
In a criminal proceeding, a witness is considered as reliable if he/she can recall in narrative form the events, chronologically ordered, with salient contextual (place and time) details, and essential evaluations for the definition of meanings. This study aimed to confirm the effects of age and PTSD on narrative coherence and to investigate the moderating role of age on the association between PTSD and narrative coherence. Narrative coherence was analyzed in 92 allegations of children ( = 10.3; range: 4-17), who were victims of sexual abuse. Thirty-five children presented the symptoms for a diagnosis of PTSD. Each deposition has been codified through the Narrative Coherence Coding Scheme, a coding scheme based on the three independent dimensions (context, chronology, and theme). Correlation analysis indicated the positive associations between age and context, chronology, and theme; and the negative associations between PTSD symptoms and context, chronology, and theme. Predictive effect of PTSD became less and less significant with increasing age. This study could underline the importance of age and PTSD (and their synergy) in legal testimony of children who have been sexually abused.
在刑事诉讼中，如果证人能够以叙述的形式回忆起事件，按照时间顺序排列，并带有突出的上下文（地点和时间）细节，以及对定义含义的重要评估，那么他/她就被认为是可靠的。本研究旨在确认年龄和 PTSD 对叙述连贯性的影响，并研究年龄对 PTSD 和叙述连贯性之间关联的调节作用。对 92 名性虐待受害儿童（平均年龄为 10.3 岁，范围为 4-17 岁）的陈述进行了叙述连贯性分析。其中 35 名儿童表现出 PTSD 的症状。每个陈述都通过叙述连贯性编码方案进行了编码，该方案基于三个独立的维度（上下文、时间顺序和主题）。相关分析表明，年龄与上下文、时间顺序和主题之间呈正相关，而 PTSD 症状与上下文、时间顺序和主题之间呈负相关。随着年龄的增长，PTSD 的预测效应变得越来越不显著。本研究可以强调年龄和 PTSD（及其协同作用）在遭受性虐待的儿童法律证词中的重要性。
