Detecting orphanage trafficking and exploitation.

BACKGROUND: There is growing awareness that a proportion of children in orphanages have been recruited or transferred into the facility for a purpose of exploitation and/or profit. These children are often falsely presented as orphans to evoke sympathy and solicit funding. This process is known as orphanage trafficking. Although orphanage trafficking can be prosecuted under legal frameworks in some jurisdictions, including Cambodia, there have been limited prosecutions to date. One factor that likely contributes to a lack of prosecution is poor detection, yet the indicators of orphanage trafficking have not been considered by extant research. OBJECTIVE: The current study was conducted as a first step towards providing evidence-based indicators of orphanage trafficking. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Professionals who had identified or responded to cases of orphanage-based exploitation in Cambodia were interviewed. Participants included criminal justice professionals, investigators from civil society organisations, and child protection social workers. METHODS: Professionals' perspectives on how to identify orphanage trafficking were explored via in-depth interviews, and the data were analysed via thematic analysis. RESULTS: The analysis revealed a distinct set of indicators that may be used to detect orphanage trafficking, including the operation of an unauthorised facility, orphanage tourism and volunteering, and an overt focus on fundraising. CONCLUSION: The indicators revealed in this study point to the need for an effective and thorough monitoring system for orphanages, as well as adequate education and training of relevant personnel to aid in the detection of orphanage trafficking.

Early childhood memories of individuals convicted of sexual offences.

This study used innovative transdisciplinary methods to describe the nature and extent of early childhood memories recalled by 84 adults convicted of sexual offences. The timing of the memories, level of detail recalled and way memories were recollected were largely consistent with extant memory research. One important finding, however, was that more than 30% of our participants recalled particularly traumatic and distressing childhood experiences - a much higher proportion than previously observed in nonoffending samples. The extent to which these memories laid the foundation for subsequent emotional content and feature in the evolution of cognitive schemata is not yet well understood. With that in mind, we consider the implications of our findings for the event centrality in self-narratives. We recommend the inclusion of treatment modalities that maximise as yet unrecognised and undervalued narrative inclinations and story-telling abilities of a complicated population of individuals with rich lived experience that stands to benefit greatly from such approaches.

Eliciting an offence narrative: what types of questions do forensic mental health practitioners ask?

Maximising the accuracy and detail of information elicited through a clinical-forensic interview may increase the reliability and validity of an individual's assessment. Despite this, there is little empirical research on what questions forensic mental health practitioners employ, and whether these correspond with empirically established interviewing strategies. In this study, 22 forensic mental health practitioners participated in a mock interview of a young person referred for a sexual risk assessment. The results highlighted that participants asked very few 'open' questions, over-relied on 'specific' questions and an average of 13% of questions were leading. Finally, practitioners predominantly used 'yes/no' questions when exploring the young person's thoughts, feelings, and physiological responses. Overall, the study demonstrated that empirically supported interviewing techniques were not commonly employed and highlighted the need for further professional development and training around clinical forensic interviewing strategies that best elicit the information needed to inform risk assessment.

Enhancing questioning skills through child avatar chatbot training with feedback.

Training child investigative interviewing skills is a specialized task. Those being trained need opportunities to practice their skills in realistic settings and receive immediate feedback. A key step in ensuring the availability of such opportunities is to develop a dynamic, conversational avatar, using artificial intelligence (AI) technology that can provide implicit and explicit feedback to trainees. In the iterative process, use of a chatbot avatar to test the language and conversation model is crucial. The model is fine-tuned with interview data and realistic scenarios. This study used a pre-post training design to assess the learning effects on questioning skills across four child interview sessions that involved training with a child avatar chatbot fine-tuned with interview data and realistic scenarios. Thirty university students from the areas of child welfare, social work, and psychology were divided into two groups; one group received direct feedback (n = 12), whereas the other received no feedback (n = 18). An automatic coding function in the language model identified the question types. Information on question types was provided as feedback in the direct feedback group only. The scenario included a 6-year-old girl being interviewed about alleged physical abuse. After the first interview session (baseline), all participants watched a video lecture on memory, witness psychology, and questioning before they conducted two additional interview sessions and completed a post-experience survey. One week later, they conducted a fourth interview and completed another post-experience survey. All chatbot transcripts were coded for interview quality. The language model's automatic feedback function was found to be highly reliable in classifying question types, reflecting the substantial agreement among the raters [Cohen's kappa (κ) = 0.80] in coding open-ended, cued recall, and closed questions. Participants who received direct feedback showed a significantly higher improvement in open-ended questioning than those in the non-feedback group, with a significant increase in the number of open-ended questions used between the baseline and each of the other three chat sessions. This study demonstrates that child avatar chatbot training improves interview quality with regard to recommended questioning, especially when combined with direct feedback on questioning.

A field assessment of child abuse investigators' engagement with a child-avatar to develop interviewing skills.

BACKGROUND: Child investigative interviewing is a complex skill requiring specialised training. A critical training element is practice. Simulations with digital avatars are cost-effective options for delivering training. This study of real-world data provides novel insights evaluating a large number of trainees' engagement with LiveSimulation (LiveSim), an online child-avatar that involves a trainee selecting a question (i.e., an option-tree) and the avatar responding with the level of detail appropriate for the question type. While LiveSim has been shown to facilitate learning of open-ended questions, its utility (from a user engagement perspective) remains to be examined. OBJECTIVE: We evaluated trainees' engagement with LiveSim, focusing on patterns of interaction (e.g., amount), appropriateness of the prompt structure, and the programme's technical compatibility. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Professionals (N = 606, mainly child protection workers and police) being offered the avatar as part of an intensive course on how to interview a child conducted between 2009 and 2018. METHODS: For descriptive analysis, Visual Basic for Applications coding in Excel was applied to evaluate engagement and internal attributes of LiveSim. A compatibility study of the programme was run testing different hardware focusing on access and function. RESULTS: The trainees demonstrated good engagement with the programme across a variety of measures, including number and timing of activity completions. Overall, knowing the utility of avatars, our results provide strong support for the notion that a technically simple avatar like LiveSim awake user engagement. This is important knowledge in further development of learning simulations using next-generation technology.

Police Investigators' Perceptions of the Challenges Associated With Interviewing Adult Sexual Assault Complainants.

Although police organizations have devoted considerable effort to training investigators in evidence-based witness interviewing techniques, there is some suggestion that current practices do not meet the multifaceted requirements of sexual assault cases. Here, we assessed the specific challenges inherent in conducting interviews with adult sexual assault complainants, by conducting in-depth interviews with 21 experienced investigators from both Australia and New Zealand. The challenges that investigators identified fell into three broad themes: meeting the evidential needs of sexual assault investigations, establishing credibility, and managing complainant vulnerabilities. We discuss how the investigative interview process might be modified in line with these challenges.

Professionals' perceptions of a multi-agency computerised data sharing system.

We examined the perceptions of multi-agency child abuse investigation professionals following the implementation of an independent computerised data linkage system for case tracking purposes. Semi-structured interviews (N = 30) were conducted with child protection workers and police officers, from both frontline and managerial roles, to explore their experiences in adapting to the new technology. Interview transcripts were coded and analysed using thematic analysis, focusing on the semantic meaning of the data. Four multifaceted themes were generated, of which three (understanding the rationale for change; system implementation and its limitations; and the role of technology within the organisational structure) showed strong divergence between frontline workers and management. While executives highlighted the benefits of the new system, frontline workers (overall) held a negative view about the system's usefulness and impact on workload. The implications of the findings are discussed.

An overview of mock interviews as a training tool for interviewers of children.

Mock (simulated) interviews can be used as a safe context for trainee interviewers to learn and practice questioning skills. When mock interviews are designed to reflect the body of scientific evidence on how questioning skills are best learned, research has demonstrated that interviewers acquire relevant and enduring skills. Despite the importance of this exercise in learning interview skill and its prevalence as a learning tool in other fields such as medicine and allied health, there has been relatively little discussion about mock interviews from an educational perspective in investigative interview training. This paper addresses that gap by providing the first comprehensive overview of the way mock interviews have been used in training interviewers of children. We describe the research that supports their utility, and the various ways they can be implemented in training: providing insight to learners; allowing opportunities for practice, feedback, and discussion; and as a standardized way to assess skill change over time. The paper also includes an overview of the cutting-edge use of avatars in mock interviews to enhance efficiency, provide unique learning experiences, and ultimately reduce training costs. We explain why avatars may be particularly useful in basic training, freeing up human trainers to facilitate mock interviews around advanced topics and discussion.

The ability of adults with limited expressive language to engage in open-ended interviews about personal experiences.

This study examines how adults with limited expressive language (with average sentences of five words or less) respond to open-ended questions. Participants (n = 49) completed a baseline measure and were then interviewed about a personal experience using exclusively open-ended questions, followed by open-ended and directive questions about a staged event. Their interviews were coded for mean length of utterance (MLU), number of different words and six dimensions of the Narrative Assessment Profile. Descriptively, the participants were able to give some event-related detail in their narratives, but there was wide variability in narrative quality. Correlational and regression analyses indicate that their MLU was stable across contexts. The findings suggest that adults with limited expressive language can provide informative responses to open-ended questions about their experiences, and that their expressive language is likely to show stability across introductory and substantive interview phases.

"We're All Time Poor": Experienced Clinicians' and Students' Perceptions of Challenges Related to Patient Communication.

PHENOMENON: Communication is a complex and essential element of clinical practice. It is widely accepted that communication skills can be taught and learned, but challenges remain for clinicians in achieving effective communication with patients. This study explored the patient-communication challenges faced by both medical students and experienced clinicians. APPROACH: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty medical students and nineteen experienced clinicians from a range of medical disciplines. Interviews were recorded and transcribed, and transcriptions subjected to thematic analysis and coding to quantify the challenges discussed. FINDINGS: There was remarkable consistency in the challenges described by both groups of participants, with eight predominant challenges identified: time constraints and chaotic environments, rapport building, patient characteristics, reluctance, omissions, assumptions, decision-making, and keeping conversations focused. INSIGHTS: Medical curricula often focus on communication challenges associated with complex or sensitive clinical situations, but many of the challenges identified occur in routine consultations. Both pre-service and post-graduate medical training should adopt strategies to help build students' and clinicians' skills in managing these challenges from the outset of training.

Professionals' views on how to conduct investigative interviews with adults with limited expressive language.

Adults with communication impairment are vulnerable to abuse and are over-represented as victims in the criminal justice system. Investigative interviewers rely largely on verbal accounts to establish whether a criminal offence occurred, and therefore the way these accounts are elicited is paramount. To date, little research has evaluated whether current interviewing protocols are appropriate for eliciting accurate and detailed information from adults with communication impairment. The present study explored this issue through qualitative interviews with professionals from various disciplines. Specifically, professionals (N = 22) who had extensive experience in interviewing, disability advocacy, and cognitive and communication impairment reflected on current recommended practice and how it could potentially improve. The results indicated widespread support for the current (open questioning) approach, although the professionals perceived that additional verbal and visual scaffolding could potentially enhance the amount of detail obtained without compromising accuracy. Suggestions for interview protocol modifications and future research are discussed.

Responding to orphanage trafficking from an information gathering perspective.

Estimates suggest that close to 3 million institutionalized children internationally have some family to whom they could go home. A proportion of these children is recruited from their communities under false pretenses and has false documentation that describes them as legal orphans. The orphanages where they live exploit them on the basis of their orphanhood. These children are known as paper orphans. The aim of the current article is to provide a profile of their origins and networks based on current available evidence, from an investigative interviewing perspective. Increased discussion and research of this problem will assist in supporting efforts towards reunification of children with families, investigations by law enforcement into orphanages, and successful prosecution of orphanage trafficking. The article provides an overview of the orphanage trafficking context, followed by a comparison of orphanage trafficking victims with other child trafficking victims from the perspective of investigative needs. Investigative needs are outlined with respect to two primary groups who would interview paper orphans and other involved parties (e.g., birth parents, orphanage staff)-law enforcement and reunification officers. In the final section of the article, we encourage further research on orphanage trafficking and provide initial guidance for interviewing in this unique context. This paper serves as a step to raise further awareness of paper orphans, orphanage trafficking, and the specific characteristics of their cases that affect research and planning into how to identify and interview them and others involved.

Interventions for improving medical students' interpersonal communication in medical consultations.

BACKGROUND: Communication is a common element in all medical consultations, affecting a range of outcomes for doctors and patients. The increasing demand for medical students to be trained to communicate effectively has seen the emergence of interpersonal communication skills as core graduate competencies in medical training around the world. Medical schools have adopted a range of approaches to develop and evaluate these competencies. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects of interventions for medical students that aim to improve interpersonal communication in medical consultations. SEARCH METHODS: We searched five electronic databases: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, and ERIC (Educational Resource Information Centre) in September 2020, with no language, date, or publication status restrictions. We also screened reference lists of relevant articles and contacted authors of included studies. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included randomised controlled trials (RCTs), cluster-RCTs (C-RCTs), and non-randomised controlled trials (quasi-RCTs) evaluating the effectiveness of interventions delivered to students in undergraduate or graduate-entry medical programmes. We included studies of interventions aiming to improve medical students' interpersonal communication during medical consultations. Included interventions targeted communication skills associated with empathy, relationship building, gathering information, and explanation and planning, as well as specific communication tasks such as listening, appropriate structure, and question style. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: We used standard methodological procedures expected by Cochrane. Two review authors independently reviewed all search results, extracted data, assessed the risk of bias of included studies, and rated the quality of evidence using GRADE. MAIN RESULTS: We found 91 publications relating to 76 separate studies (involving 10,124 students): 55 RCTs, 9 quasi-RCTs, 7 C-RCTs, and 5 quasi-C-RCTs. We performed meta-analysis according to comparison and outcome. Among both effectiveness and comparative effectiveness analyses, we separated outcomes reporting on overall communication skills, empathy, rapport or relationship building, patient perceptions/satisfaction, information gathering, and explanation and planning. Overall communication skills and empathy were further divided as examiner- or simulated patient-assessed. The overall quality of evidence ranged from moderate to very low, and there was high, unexplained heterogeneity. Overall, interventions had positive effects on most outcomes, but generally small effect sizes and evidence quality limit the conclusions that can be drawn. Communication skills interventions in comparison to usual curricula or control may improve both overall communication skills (standardised mean difference (SMD) 0.92, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.53 to 1.31; 18 studies, 1356 participants; I² = 90%; low-quality evidence) and empathy (SMD 0.64, 95% CI 0.23 to 1.05; 6 studies, 831 participants; I² = 86%; low-quality evidence) when assessed by experts, but not by simulated patients. Students' skills in information gathering probably also improve with educational intervention (SMD 1.07, 95% CI 0.61 to 1.54; 5 studies, 405 participants; I² = 78%; moderate-quality evidence), but there may be little to no effect on students' rapport (SMD 0.18, 95% CI -0.15 to 0.51; 9 studies, 834 participants; I² = 81%; low-quality evidence), and effects on information giving skills are uncertain (very low-quality evidence). We are uncertain whether experiential interventions improve overall communication skills in comparison to didactic approaches (SMD 0.08, 95% CI -0.02 to 0.19; 4 studies, 1578 participants; I² = 4%; very low-quality evidence). Electronic learning approaches may have little to no effect on students' empathy scores (SMD -0.13, 95% CI -0.68 to 0.43; 3 studies, 421 participants; I² = 82%; low-quality evidence) or on rapport (SMD 0.02, 95% CI -0.33 to 0.38; 3 studies, 176 participants; I² = 19%; moderate-quality evidence) compared to face-to-face approaches. There may be small negative effects of electronic interventions on information giving skills (low-quality evidence), and effects on information gathering skills are uncertain (very low-quality evidence).  Personalised/specific feedback probably improves overall communication skills to a small degree in comparison to generic or no feedback (SMD 0.58, 95% CI 0.29 to 0.87; 6 studies, 502 participants; I² = 56%; moderate-quality evidence). There may be small positive effects of personalised feedback on empathy and information gathering skills (low quality), but effects on rapport are uncertain (very low quality), and we found no evidence on information giving skills. We are uncertain whether role-play with simulated patients outperforms peer role-play in improving students' overall communication skills (SMD 0.17, 95% CI -0.33 to 0.67; 4 studies, 637 participants; I² = 87%; very low-quality evidence). There may be little to no difference between effects of simulated patient and peer role-play on students' empathy (low-quality evidence) with no evidence on other outcomes for this comparison. Descriptive syntheses of results that could not be included in meta-analyses across outcomes and comparisons were mixed, as were effects of different interventions and comparisons on specific communication skills assessed by the included trials. Quality of evidence was downgraded due to methodological limitations across several risk of bias domains, high unexplained heterogeneity, and imprecision of results. In general, results remain consistent in sensitivity analysis based on risk of bias and adjustment for clustering. No adverse effects were reported.  AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: This review represents a substantial body of evidence from which to draw, but further research is needed to strengthen the quality of the evidence base, to consider the long-term effects of interventions on students' behaviour as they progress through training and into practice, and to assess effects of interventions on patient outcomes. Efforts to standardise assessment and evaluation of interpersonal skills will strengthen future research efforts.

Forensic risk assessment interviews with youth: how do we elicit the most reliable and complete information?

When undertaking a forensic risk assessment with a young person, most evaluators complete an assessment interview to elicit autobiographical history as well as perspectives, thoughts and feelings about the individual's offending behaviour. While forensic risk assessment tools provide some suggestions on interview questions and techniques, there is no empirical research that explores the most effective strategies for eliciting detailed and reliable information in this context. This article reviews existing recommendations from the related fields of investigative interviewing and suicide risk assessment and integrates this with guidance from the forensic risk assessment literature to identify best practice recommendations for evaluators. It is hoped that this review will provide a starting point to explore how research from other fields may be integrated into risk assessment interviews to improve the quality and accuracy of forensic assessment.

Forensic interviewers' perceptions of the utility of mock interviews with trained actors as a training tool for child interviewing.

BACKGROUND: The use of mock interviews (also known as role play), particularly using trained actors as interviewees, has demonstrated positive effects on communication training but little is known about how learners engage with these practice activities. OBJECTIVE: The current study was conducted to determine what perceptions forensic interviewers hold about mock interviews as a learning exercise for developing skills for child interviewing, and whether there are negative perceptions that could potentially have an impact on the helpfulness of the exercise. PARTICIPANTS: Written reflections were obtained from 35 US forensic interviewing professionals who were enrolled in an online child interviewer training program. METHODS: Common themes were extracted from the reflections to establish forensic interviewers' perceptions of aspects of the mock interview. Extraction of themes assisted in the determination of whether perceptions impacted the manner and degree to which interviewers engaged in the mock interview process. RESULTS: Results suggest that regardless of potential anxiety, learners experience multiple benefits from the mock interview. CONCLUSIONS: Findings from the present study suggests suggest most trainees perceive mock interviews favourably, and they are useful in child interview training programs.

Assessing the training needs of medical students in patient information gathering.

BACKGROUND: Effective communication is at the heart of good medical practice but rates of error, patient complaints, and poor clinician job satisfaction are suggestive of room for improvement in this component of medical practice and education. METHODS: We conducted semi-structured interviews with experienced clinicians (n = 19) and medical students (n = 20) to explore their experiences associated with teaching and learning clinical communication skills and identify targets for improvements to addressing these skills in medical curricula. RESULTS: Interviews were thematically analysed and four key themes emerged; the importance of experience, the value of role-models, the structure of a consultation, and confidence. CONCLUSIONS: The findings reinforce the need for improvement in teaching and learning communication skills in medicine, with particular opportunity to target approaches to teaching foundational skills which can establish a strong grounding before moving into more complex situations, thus preparing students for the flexibility required in medical interviewing. A second area of opportunity and need is in the engagement and training of clinicians as mentors and teachers, with the findings from both groups indicating that preparation for teaching and feedback is lacking. Medical programs can improve their teaching of communication skills and could learn from other fields s to identify applicable innovative approaches.

Narrative language skills of maltreated children living in out-of-home care.

Purpose: Children's narrative accounts of their experiences are central to the prosecution of perpetrators of alleged maltreatment. We describe the narrative language skills of children who were placed in out-of-home care (OOHC) following substantiated maltreatment. It was hypothesised that (i) children with such histories would display narrative language skills that fall significantly below published age-expected norms, (ii) narrative language skills and core language skills would be positively correlated and (iii) narrative language skills would be associated with measures of socio-economic disadvantage.Method: Eighty-three children (40 males and 43 females) aged 5;3 to 12;10 (M = 7.9, SD = 2.3) from English-speaking home backgrounds were assessed using the Test of Narrative Language and the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (CELF-4) Core Language Score. The Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices, a measure of nonverbal intelligence, was employed as a covariate.Result: Forty-two percent of children scored in the below-average range on the Narrative Language Index Ability Index. The same proportion scored at/above age-expected levels on the Narrative Comprehension subtest, and 19% scored at/above age-expected levels on Oral Narration. There was a significant correlation between CELF-4 Core Language Scores and the Narrative Language Index Ability Index. Female carers' education was significantly positively associated with overall narrative language scores; however, household income and index of socio-economic disadvantage were not significantly associated with narrative language scores.Conclusion: Children who are victims of substantiated maltreatment should be considered at-risk for compromised ability to provide a narrative account of their experiences. The heterogeneity and often scant oral narrative language skills of these children highlights the importance of police/human services training on best-practice forensic interviewing. Policy and practice implications for speech-language pathology early intervention to support the needs of at-risk children are also discussed.

Effects of interviewer familiarity and supportiveness on children's recall across repeated interviews.

OBJECTIVES: Child witnesses often describe their experiences across multiple interviews. It is unknown whether talking with a familiar interviewer increases disclosures, however, or whether any benefits of a familiar interviewer could be achieved by ensuring that interviewers (regardless of familiarity) behave in socially supportive ways. This study tested the effects of interviewer familiarity and social support on children's reports of an adult's transgressions. HYPOTHESES: We predicted that familiarity and supportiveness would increase transgression reports at a second interview and that children who spoke with familiar, supportive interviewers would disclose the most transgressions. METHOD: Children (N = 160, 5 to 9 years) participated in a science event involving 6 transgressions. Across 2 interviews, they spoke with the same trained university student interviewer or different interviewers, and these interviewers engaged in supportive or neutral behaviors. Interviews were coded for overall information reported, number of transgressions, and confabulations. RESULTS: There were no effects of support in the first interview or on total details reported in either interview. Children reported more transgressions to supportive than neutral interviewers in the second interview (IRR = 1.19), even during open-ended prompting (IRR = 1.26), and they omitted fewer transgressions that had been reported in the first interview (IRR = 0.69). Confabulations were infrequent. There were no condition differences in the total number of confabulations reported across interviews, but these errors occurred more often in the second interview in the supportive condition. CONCLUSIONS: Interviewer support may play a greater role than familiarity in facilitating children's testimony. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Challenges in translating interview protocols for alleged child victims of sexual abuse to different languages: A case study.

Adequate interviewing of alleged victims of child sexual abuse is critical for the investigation and for preserving the welfare of the child. Investigative interview protocols for children (IIPCs) have been developed to meet this twofold purpose. This article focuses on one previously unexplored issue related to applicability of IIPCs: how well they translate into other languages. This case study provides an in-depth analysis of an example of the translation of an IIPC to a new language and its adaptation to a particular cultural setting. Using an interpretive description approach and a mixed-method, stages and outputs of the adaptation process are described, as well as the amount, type and nature of difficulties in translation that were identified and corrected across the process. The main threats to translation equivalence arose from differences among languages, but also from cultural and contextual differences. Prompts to children and interviewers within the protocol presented different translation challenges. Consultation with experts and the protocol's advisors, along with team discussions, were beneficial in identifying and solving translation issues. Typical translation issues and practical recommendations on how to translate and culturally adapt IIPCs effectively are discussed.

"She Wanted to Know the Full Story": Children's Perceptions of Open Versus Closed Questions.

The current study explored children's perceptions of open and closed questions in an interview setting. Children aged 7-12 ( n = 83) years watched a short film and were questioned about it by an interviewer who asked only open questions and an interviewer who asked only closed questions (counterbalanced). A third interviewer subsequently invited perceptions of each interview by asking children to compare the interviews on 10 attributes (e.g., length, perceived interviewer interest). Children's comparisons on each of the 10 attributes were analyzed quantitatively and their responses to the follow-up questions underwent thematic analysis. Overall, children tended to find closed questions easier than open questions because they required less thought to answer but felt more listened to and better able to give their stories in response to open questions. Their perceptions frequently matched findings in the literature about the utility of open versus closed questions. The research has implications for interviews with child victims.