Children's memory of events: effects of stress,age, time delay and location of interview

To examine the ability of children aged between 4 and 12 years to recall a stressful event (venipuncture) compared with a non-stressful event (demonstration of venipuncture), recall was tested after 6–8 weeks. Half also had recall tested after 2–7 days. Testing took place where the stressful event occurred (n=122) or at a neutral location (n=127). Children who experienced the stressful event were less likely to give inaccurate responses in free recall or to acquiesce to suggestive misleading questions. Apart from incorrect responses in free recall, correct responses increased and incorrect responses decreased with increasing age. Recall after 2–7 days was superior to recall after 6–8 weeks. Those who had an early and a late interview had better recall at the late interview than those who had a late interview only. The location of interview showed no effects on recall. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.