Navigating Reluctance in Dutch Child Forensic Interviews: Interviewers Tend to Reject Avoidant and Denial Statements Regardless of NICHD Protocol Training

Children interviewed in alleged maltreatment cases sometimes provide avoidant (e.g., "I don't remember") or denial (e.g., "Nothing happened.") responses. In the current study, we conducted a sequential dialogue analysis to investigate (a) how interviewers at the Dutch child protection (Safe Home) reacted to such utterances and (b) how these reactions in turn affected children's subsequent responses. We examined 57 denial and 281 avoidance statements across 68 Safe Home interviews with alleged child maltreatment victims (38 according to the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development protocol and 30 without a protocol). Interviewers oftentimes rejected avoidant (63%, 178/281) and denial statements (49%, 28/57), irrespective of National Institute for Child Health and Human Development protocol training. Yet, the likelihood of children to respond productively (i.e., by providing new details) was seven times higher when their initial reluctances were met with acceptance by the interviewer rather than rejection. Based on these results, we provide recommendations for child interviewing training.