Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, USA.
Child Maltreat. 2023 Aug;28(3):417-426. doi: 10.1177/10775595231175913. Epub 2023 May 14.
Child interviewers are often advised to avoid asking "How" questions, particularly with young children. However, children tend to answer "How" evaluative questions productively (e.g., "How did you feel?"). "How" evaluative questions are phrased as a "How" followed by an auxiliary verb (e.g., "did" or "was"), but so are "How" questions requesting information about method or manner (e.g., "How did he touch you?"), and "How" method/manner questions might be more difficult for children to answer. We examined 458 5- to 17-year-old children questioned about sexual abuse, identified 2485 "How" questions with an auxiliary verb, and classified them as "How" evaluative ( = 886) or "How" method/manner ( = 1599). Across age, children gave more productive answers to "How" evaluative questions than "How" method/manner questions. Although even young children responded appropriately to "How" method/manner questions over 80% of the time, specific types of "How" method/manner questions were particularly difficult, including questions regarding clothing, body positioning, and the nature of touch. Children's difficulties lie in specific combinations of "How" questions and topics, rather than "How" questions in general.
儿童访谈员通常被建议避免询问“如何”类问题，尤其是对年幼的孩子。然而，孩子们往往会对“如何”类评价性问题做出积极的回答（例如，“你感觉如何？”）。“如何”评价性问题的形式是“如何”后跟一个助动词（例如，“did”或“was”），但询问方法或方式的“如何”类问题也是如此（例如，“他如何触碰你？”），而且“如何”类方法/方式问题可能更难回答。我们调查了 458 名 5 至 17 岁的儿童，询问他们关于性虐待的问题，识别出 2485 个带有助动词的“如何”类问题，并将其分为“如何”评价性问题（=886）或“如何”方法/方式问题（=1599）。从年龄上看，儿童对“如何”评价性问题的回答比“如何”方法/方式问题更具生产性。尽管即使是年幼的孩子在 80%以上的时间里都能正确回答“如何”方法/方式问题，但某些类型的“如何”方法/方式问题特别困难，包括关于衣服、身体姿势和触摸性质的问题。儿童的困难在于“如何”类问题和话题的特定组合，而不是“如何”类问题本身。
