The effectiveness of the Revised Protocol's supportive techniques in eliciting information from children disclosing physical abuse

Background: Allegedly maltreated children are often reluctant to disclose information about abusive events during forensic interviews. The Revised NICHD Protocol (RP), which emphasizes interviewer support, has been shown to enhance children's testimonies. Objective: This study aimed to examine the types of supportive techniques used during forensic interviews and assess their effectiveness in eliciting from children emotional content and forensic details about their alleged physical abuse. Methods: Interviews were conducted throughout Israel with 165 children (44.8 % girls) aged 4 to 14 (M = 9.3, SD = 2.33) who disclosed multiple incidents of physical abuse by their parents. Multilevel regressions assessed the effects of support types on the children's emotional expression and the forensic details they provided. Results: Analyses showed that reinforcement (22.3 %) was the most widely used technique. Unconditional support predicted overall emotional expression (B = 0.576), maintaining a relationship predicted negative emotional expression (B = 0.568), and encouragement predicted reporting of forensic details (B = 0.98). Emotional support for negative emotions related to the interview negatively predicted reporting of forensic details (B = −0.601). Conclusions: Tailored support that addresses children's emotional and cognitive needs is essential for optimizing interview outcomes, highlighting the importance of interviewers using a nuanced approach to elicit comprehensive testimonies.