Département de psychologie, Université de Montréal, Canada.
Laboratoire de recherche Trauma et Résilience, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada.
Child Abuse Negl. 2024 Aug;154:106949. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.106949. Epub 2024 Jul 24.
Using facility dogs during police investigative interviews is a recent practice in Canada. While the common use of this intervention is decidedly an indicator of sympathy capital, its utility in this context is relatively unknown and no study has specifically evaluated the effect of using facility dogs on children's collaboration during investigative interviews.
This study compares police investigative interviews conducted in the presence of a service dog (n = 46) to those without (n = 45) to examine the effects of the presence of and interactions with a dog on children's reluctance.
PARTICIPANTS, SETTING AND METHODS: The interviews were done with children aged 3 to 15 years and were coded for children's reluctance, their physical interactions with and comments about the dog, as well as for investigator's verbal support.
No significant group differences were found in terms of children's overall reluctance (p = 0.700), though the children accompanied by a dog showed significantly more digression (p = 0.008). Among the children who were accompanied by a dog, those who interacted with the dog more frequently (p = 0.035) and who made more comments about the dog (p < 0.001) showed more signs of reluctance, even after accounting for child age and investigator support. No association was observed between children's reluctance and the total duration of dog-child physical interactions (p = 0.097).
This study contributes to an enhanced understanding of the usefulness of facility dogs and the factors that influence children's reluctance during investigative interviews.
在加拿大，警方面谈中使用服务犬是一种新的做法。虽然这种干预手段的普遍应用无疑表明了其同情资本，但在这种情况下，其效用尚不清楚，也没有研究专门评估使用服务犬对儿童在调查性面谈中的合作意愿的影响。
本研究比较了在服务犬在场（n=46）和不在场（n=45）的情况下进行的警方面谈，以考察犬的存在和与犬的互动对儿童合作意愿的影响。
参与者、设置和方法：访谈对象为 3 至 15 岁的儿童，并对儿童的合作意愿、他们与犬的身体互动和对犬的评论以及调查员的口头支持进行了编码。
在儿童的总体合作意愿方面，两组间无显著差异（p=0.700），但有犬陪伴的儿童表现出更多的离题（p=0.008）。在有犬陪伴的儿童中，与犬互动更频繁（p=0.035）和对犬的评论更多（p<0.001）的儿童表现出更多的合作意愿，即使考虑到儿童年龄和调查员支持。儿童的合作意愿与犬和儿童之间的身体互动总时长之间无关联（p=0.097）。
本研究有助于更深入地了解服务犬的有用性以及影响儿童在调查性面谈中合作意愿的因素。
