Citation

Ham K, Konijnenburg EMMH, Brilleslijper‐Kater SN, Schepers A, Daams JG, Teeuw AH, Rijn RR, Lee JH. Child Abuse Rev. 2020; 29(1): 12-26.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/car.2601

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Sexually abused young people often display few or no physical symptoms, and delay of verbal disclosure is common. Based on previous research, we assume that sexually abused children and adolescents may display nonverbal emotional signs, which can be assessed during an investigative interview for suspected child sexual abuse (CSA). We aim to present an overview of reported instruments for the assessment of children's and adolescents' nonverbal emotional signs by medical, psychological and forensic professionals during an investigative interview for suspected CSA. Structured search strategies were developed for MEDLINE (OvidSP), Embase (OvidSP) and PsychINFO (OvidSP). Two reviewers independently performed study selection and data extraction. The search yielded 6711 studies, of which nine were included. All included studies had different study aims and reported a variety of purposes for the assessment of nonverbal emotional signs. Eight different, newly developed instruments were used. Although all studies reported the measurement properties of the instruments, insufficient information was provided for analysis of their reliability and validity. This indicates the need for one reliable, validated instrument for the assessment of nonverbal emotional signs. Standardised, generally approved methods to collect uniform and comparable information during the investigative interview for suspected CSA are essential to enhance the knowledge base in this field. 'An overview of reported instruments for the assessment of children's and adolescents' nonverbal emotional signs… during an investigative interview for suspected CSA' Key Practitioner Messages The evidence base in the field of suspected CSA would be improved if professionals worldwide used standardised and generally approved methods for the collection of uniform, comparable information. Further research is required to explore the additional value of the assessment of nonverbal emotional signs in children and adolescents during the investigative interview for suspected CSA. To warrant the sustainable and harmonised collection of relevant nonverbal emotional signs, a valid and reliable assessment instrument needs to be developed.

Language: en

Keywords

child sexual abuse; disclosure of abuse; investigative interviewing; nonverbal communication