A field assessment of child abuse investigators' engagement with a child-avatar to develop interviewing skills

Ragnhild Klingenberg Røed; Martine B Powell; Michael A Riegler; Gunn Astrid Baugerud

doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2023.106324

A field assessment of child abuse investigators' engagement with a child-avatar to develop interviewing skills

Child Abuse Negl. 2023 Sep:143:106324. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2023.106324. Epub 2023 Jun 28.

Authors

Ragnhild Klingenberg Røed¹, Martine B Powell², Michael A Riegler³, Gunn Astrid Baugerud⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Social Work, Child Welfare and Social Policy, Faculty of Social Sciences, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway. Electronic address: RagnhildKlingenberg.Roed@oslomet.no.
² Centre for Investigative Interviewing, Griffith Criminology Institute, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia.
³ SimulaMet, Oslo, Norway.
⁴ Department of Social Work, Child Welfare and Social Policy, Faculty of Social Sciences, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway.

PMID: 37390589
DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2023.106324

Abstract

Background: Child investigative interviewing is a complex skill requiring specialised training. A critical training element is practice. Simulations with digital avatars are cost-effective options for delivering training. This study of real-world data provides novel insights evaluating a large number of trainees' engagement with LiveSimulation (LiveSim), an online child-avatar that involves a trainee selecting a question (i.e., an option-tree) and the avatar responding with the level of detail appropriate for the question type. While LiveSim has been shown to facilitate learning of open-ended questions, its utility (from a user engagement perspective) remains to be examined.

Objective: We evaluated trainees' engagement with LiveSim, focusing on patterns of interaction (e.g., amount), appropriateness of the prompt structure, and the programme's technical compatibility.

Participants and setting: Professionals (N = 606, mainly child protection workers and police) being offered the avatar as part of an intensive course on how to interview a child conducted between 2009 and 2018.

Methods: For descriptive analysis, Visual Basic for Applications coding in Excel was applied to evaluate engagement and internal attributes of LiveSim. A compatibility study of the programme was run testing different hardware focusing on access and function.

Results: The trainees demonstrated good engagement with the programme across a variety of measures, including number and timing of activity completions. Overall, knowing the utility of avatars, our results provide strong support for the notion that a technically simple avatar like LiveSim awake user engagement. This is important knowledge in further development of learning simulations using next-generation technology.

Keywords: Avatar; Engagement; Investigative interviewing; Simulation practice; Skills training.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Child
Child Abuse* / prevention & control
Humans
Learning