Several studies of forensic interviews have confirmed that open-ended questions elicit longer and more detailed responses from young children than focused questions do, regardless of the number of incidents experienced and the language (English, Swedish, or Hebrew) in which the interview was conducted. Other studies have shown that interviewers can increase the length and richness of childrens accounts by following SSED- designed protocols designed to probe recall memory and reduce the reliance on more focused questions which are more likely to elicit erroneous information. Factors that might affect interviews of very young children, as well as children who are reluctant to disclose, are currently of special interest. Another study is focused on the effects of domestic violence on children who were either victims of physical abuse, witnesses of spousal abuse, both victims and witnesses, or neither victims nor witnesses. A group of children were first assessed in 1988/9 when they were between 8 and 12 years of age. The children, their parents, and their teachers were reinterviewed in 1995 and 1996. Reports have focused on the implications of major discrepancies between reports by different informants concerning both family violence and childrens adjustment. - Forensic interviews; sexual abuse; child abuse; domestic violence; interviewer strategies; field studies; disclosure of abuse - Human Subjects & Human Subjects: Interview, Questionaires, or Surveys Only
