Rapport-building in multiple interviews of children

Abstract

Rapport-building is key in child investigative interviews, however, recommendations of how to build rapport differ. Additionally, rapport in more complex situations: when a child is interviewed repeatedly or requires separate rapport building have not been studied. This research examined the UK's ‘Achieving Best Evidence’ guidelines for rapport-building, which recommend conducting a neutral discussion, compared with a control condition and a separate rapport-building session for first interviews on children's recall and well-being (measured by state anxiety and rapport questionnaires). For second and third interviews, additional full rapport-building sessions were compared to shortened or no rapport-building conditions. No significant differences in children's (N = 107) recall or well-being were found across rapport-building conditions for all interviews. We conclude that for children who have experienced non-traumatic events, the inclusion of a neutral discussion rapport-building phase may not be any more beneficial for children than conducting a friendly interview.