Investigative interviewing of youth with ADHD - recommendations for detective training.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in youth can lead to a trajectory of early and repeated contact with the criminal justice system (CJS), where such youth face significant challenges due to the nature of their diagnosis and the lack of specialized detective training in this area. This article reviews Australian detectives' perceptions regarding contact with ADHD-affected youth, ongoing contact of such youth with the CJS, and the impact of ADHD on interviewing time efficiency and quality of information gathered. It explores detectives' perceived impact of ADHD on components of the Cognitive Interview (CI). It overviews detectives' perceptions regarding their own skill/ability, training availability and future training preferences regarding the interviewing of ADHD-affected youth. The authors highlight best practice in specialized detective training, as well as in working with ADHD-affected youth. Recommendations are made regarding the design features of a potential specialized training programme for detectives interviewing ADHD-affected youth.

Police perceptions of the impact that ADHD has on conducting cognitive interviews with youth.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in youth witnesses, victims and suspects can significantly impact the investigative interviewing process. In this study, 102 Child Protection Investigation Unit (CPIU) detectives were asked to read four vignettes of adolescents being interviewed by police, two as witnesses and two as suspects, in which one witness and one suspect display ADHD-type behaviour. The detectives rated the degree to which the behaviour in each vignette would impact the interviewer's ability to use the 10 key components of the cognitive interview (CI). They perceived ADHD-type interviewee behaviour as significantly hampering the use of all 10 CI components. There is also a significant difference between the detectives' rated severity of each CI component; they rated Encourage Concentration, Mentally Recreate and Change Order as exerting the strongest impact on the interview process. Implications for police perceptions of training options, needs and preferences regarding interviewing youth with ADHD are discussed.