Psychosocial factors associated with the assessment of testimony credibility in Child Sexual Abuse

Anales de Psicologia

article

María Cabezas-García¹  María Elena Peña-Fernández¹  José Manuel Andreu-Rodríguez¹ 

[1] Department of Personality, Assessment, and Clinical Psychology. Complutense Universidad of Madrid;Faculty of Health. Camilo José Cela University

关键词: Credibility;    Child Abuse Reporting;    Sexual Abuse;    Child Abuse;    Child Characteristics;    Psychosocial Factors;    Forensic Psychology;   

DOI  :  10.6018/analesps.418161

学科分类：心理学（综合）

来源: Ediciones De La Universidad De Murcia

【 摘 要 】

Background Credibility assessment in Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) poses a major challenge for forensic psychology. The lack of evidence supporting the determination of the real occurrence of the abuse requires additional approaches to assess credibility. The purpose of this research is to explore the existence of psychosocial factors associated with testimony credibility in CSA. Method Ninety-nine CSA cases characterized as Credible (C) or Not Credible (NC) were evaluated. The age range of the group spanned 4 to 17 years (M = 11.31, SD = 3.92) with 87 (85.9%) cases corresponding to females. Group C incuded 68 cases and NC group the remaining 31. The relationship between the expert opinion (C/NC) and psychosocial factors was evaluated using contingency tables and chi-square analysis. Results Significant differences in variables such as the presence of sexual and emotional imbalances, dysfunctional family dynamics, parent litigation, or legal actions against a relative were found. Conclusions Certain variables were commonly present in the NC group, such as symptoms of a sexual nature, dysfunctional familiar dynamics, divorced parents, presence of litigation between parents, or legal actions against the biological father.

【 授权许可】

CC BY-NC-ND