title: Trends in children's disclosure of abuse in Israel: a national study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify characteristics of suspected child abuse victims that are associated with disclosure and nondisclosure during formal investigations.
  
  
  METHODS
  The database included all suspected cases of physical and sexual abuse investigated in the state of Israel between 1998 and 2002. All investigative interviews were conducted using a single standardized protocol, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Investigative Interview Protocol.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, 65% of the 26,446 children made allegations when interviewed, but rates of disclosure were greater in the case of sexual (71%) than physical (61%) abuse. Children of all ages were less likely to disclose/allege abuse when a parent was the suspected perpetrator. Rates of disclosure/allegation increased as children grew older, with 50% of the 3- to 6-year-olds, 67% of the 7- to 10-year-olds, and 74% of the 11- to 14-year-olds disclosing abuse when questioned.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although most interviews of suspected victims yielded allegations, such rates of disclosure varied systematically depending on the nature of the alleged offences, the relationship between alleged victims and suspected perpetrators, and the age of the suspected victims. The findings obtained in this large and unselected data set confirm patterns previously reported in smaller and quite selective samples, most of them obtained in the United States.
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: Irit
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hershkowitz
authors.forename: Dvora
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Horowitz
authors.forename: Michael E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Lamb
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000145:classification / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003418:Criminology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007557:Israel; D008297:Male; D012650:Self Disclosure