TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2021//
TI  - Nonverbal emotions while disclosing child abuse: the role of interviewer support
JO  - Child maltreatment
A1  - Karni-Visel, Yael
A1  - Hershkowitz, Irit
A1  - Lamb, Michael E.
A1  - Blasbalg, Uri
SP  - ePub
EP  - ePub
VL  - ePub
IS  - ePub
N2  - Statements by alleged victims are important when child abuse is prosecuted; triers-of-fact often attend to nonverbal emotional expressions when evaluating those statements. This study examined the associations among interviewer supportiveness, children's nonverbal emotions, and informativeness during 100 forensic interviews with alleged victims of child abuse. Raters coded the silent videotapes for children's nonverbal emotional expressions while other raters coded the transcripts for interviewer support, children's verbal emotions, and informativeness. <br><br>RESULTS showed that children's nonverbal signals were more common than and preceded the verbal signs. Interviewer support was associated with children's expressivity. When children expressed more nonverbal emotions, they were more responsive during the pre-substantive phases and more informative about the abuse. Nonverbal emotions partially mediated the association between support and informativeness. The findings underline the value of nonverbal emotional expression during forensic interviews and demonstrate how the interviewers' supportive demeanor can facilitate children's emotional displays and increase informativeness.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1077-5595
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/10775595211063497
ID  - ref1
ER  -