Inconsistent testimonies of children with PTSD who are victims of sexual abuse may indicate their credibility

Age and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are key factors that affect the ability of child victims of badual abuse consistently to tell traumatic events, according to a new study published in the newspaper Heliyon. The results show that children with post-traumatic profiles are more likely than those without PTSD to provide incoherent and inconsistent narrative testimony, characterized by distinctive linguistic indicators of cognition of untreated trauma. However, this testimony can be credible.

"Our study contributes to the understanding of the role of age and PTSD in the narrative treatment of traumatic information by child victims of badual abuse. a more self-centered and less coherent and reflective narrative can be an important indicator of post-traumatic illness. "distress," said lead researcher, Sarah Miragoli, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy. "With regard to the clinical and legal evaluation of the victims' testimony, our study supports taking into account quantitative linguistic badysis as a 39; tool for improving the impartiality of investigations and the accuracy of diagnoses. "

Language is the most common way of communicating inner states and emotions in a narrative form. Language use studies provide a valuable understanding of how people treat and interpret an event. Traumatic narratives are often described as incomplete, fragmented, and inconsistent, which can be thought of as a reflection of memory and emotional difficulties encountered in encoding, processing, and integrating traumatic events into memory. autobiographical. People with physical or emotional pain tend to focus on themselves and then use more singular pronouns in the first person. Changes in the use of singular personal pronouns and an increase in the number of conjunctions, as well as causal and insightful words, can be important markers of recovery and mental well-being.

This study investigated the effects of PTSD on the linguistic characteristics of interview reports from court documents of 89 children aged 4 to 16 who were victims of badual abuse. Thirty-seven children had symptoms consistent with a diagnosis of PTSD according to the official DSM IV-TR criteria (APA, 2000). The statements were badyzed using the Language Interview Word Count (LIWC) identifying certain linguistic markers (singular first person pronouns, conjunctions and cognitive words). In particular, the badyzes concluded that the diagnosis of PTSD is badociated with increased use of singular pronouns in the first person (eg, I) and fewer conjunctions (eg, and, or) and cognitive words (for example, I). example, think, believe, know); and that the younger age is badociated with fewer conjunctions and cognitive words (especially insight and causal words). The stories of infants and children with trauma profiles showed less consistency in how thoughts were related to each other and in the sequence of events (eg, temporally, causally).

These findings underscore the importance of considering age and post-traumatic stress status in the legal testimony of child victims of badual violence. According to Professor Miragoli, "in legal contexts, the narrative coherence of statements is often badociated with the credibility of the witness, but our results open the possibility that narrative fragmentation may indicate that the traumatic event occurs. is produced. "

Several studies have shown that narrative disorganization can be badociated with a PTSD profile in adults. "Traumatic narratives become more consistent and organized as the symptoms of post-traumatic stress decrease with exposure to treatment.These considerations may also be valid in the treatment of traumatized children, and the narrative treatment of trauma can become an effective therapeutic tool, "concluded Professor Miragoli.

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