Narrative skill and testimonial accuracy in typically developing children and those with intellectual disabilities

Area of Science:

• Child Psychology
• Forensic Psychology
• Developmental Psychology

Background:

• Children's testimony accuracy is vital in maltreatment cases.
• Children with intellectual disabilities (CWID) are at higher risk for maltreatment.
• Limited understanding exists regarding CWID's narrative coherence in reporting experiences.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the narrative coherence of maltreatment reports between children with intellectual disabilities (CWID) and typically developing (TD) children.
• To identify factors influencing the coherence of children's accounts.
• To assess the impact of narrative coherence on testimony accuracy and suggestibility.

Main Methods:

• Compared narrative coherence in CWID (mild-moderate impairment, 7-11 years) with TD children matched for mental age (4-10 years) or chronological age (7-11 years).
• Analyzed children's reports of experienced events for markers of narrative coherence.
• Examined the relationship between coherence markers, testimony accuracy, and resistance to suggestion.

Main Results:

• All children included markers of narrative coherence.
• Children with lower mental ages, especially CWID, produced fewer coherence markers.
• Specific coherence markers, particularly content recall, predicted testimony accuracy and resistance to suggestion, independent of disability and mental age.

Conclusions:

• Narrative coherence is important for children's testimony, especially for CWID.
• Interventions to enhance children's ability to describe experiences coherently are essential.
• Supporting coherent recall can improve the reliability and accuracy of testimony from vulnerable children.