Publication year: 2011
Source: Child Abuse & Neglect, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 30 August 2011
Paolo, Roma , Pietro San, Martini , Ugo, Sabatello , Roberto, Tatarelli , Stefano, Ferracuti
Objective: The reliability of child witness testimony in sexual abuse cases is often controversial, and few tools are available. Criteria-Based Content Analysis (CBCA) is a widely used instrument for evaluating psychological credibility in cases of suspected child sexual abuse. Only few studies have evaluated CBCA scores in children suspected of being sexually abused. We designed this study to investigate the reliability of CBCA in discriminating allegations of child sexual abuse during court hearings, by comparing CBCA results with the court’s final, unappealable sentence. We then investigated whether CBCA scores correlated with age, and whether some criteria were better than others in…