title: Interviewing the young child sexual abuse victim.
abstract: 1. Nurses can facilitate the disclosure by a young child of sexual abuse by using developmentally sensitive language, such as through the use of proper nouns, single-idea sentences, and the avoidance of technical terms. 2. Nurses can guide the interview from benign, open-ended questions to context-specific, focused questions. Differentiation is made between being specific versus being suggestive. 3. Rapport-building is an important part of the alliance with the child and the nurse. Interviewers should be matter-of-fact and acknowledge any discomfort the child may demonstrate. 4. Cognitive interviewing is a specific technique designed to access accurate recall of a child's memories through reconstruction and memory-jogging techniques.
authors.affiliation: Medical College of Ohio, Toledo 43699, USA.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lewin
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003144:Communication Barriers; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D007804:Language Development; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D012650:Self Disclosure; D013404:Suggestion