The history of an idea: The NICHD Protocol, Standard, and Revised

Abstract

Background

This article describes the origins and development of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Investigative Interview Protocol. The author’s original interest in exploring the reliability of children’s accounts of their behaviour and experiences morphed into the assessment of various techniques that increased the ability and willingness of young children to provide richly detailed and accurate descriptions of their experiences.

Conclusions

These techniques and strategies were then compiled into a tool, the NICHD Protocol, which was shown to improve the quality of forensic interviewing. Subsequently, the Revised NICHD Protocol incorporated an additional suite of practices addressing the emotional and motivational factors that made some children reluctant to cooperate with interviewers.