Beliefs about inaccessible memories of childhood sexual abuse: a survey of laypeople and professionals.

Abstract

Evidence indicates that perceived event plausibility influences the likelihood of false memory implantation. Accordingly, it is central to map out the beliefs that people hold regarding the plausibility of different events. In three studies, we examined beliefs concerning the plausibility of being unable to remember childhood sexual abuse by use of two vignettes. This was investigated in Danish (Study 1; N = 94) and American laypeople (Study 2; N = 303) and Danish professionals across six different groups of potential relevance to the legal system (Study 3; N = 335). Most participants in Studies 1 and 2 answered either "Plausible" or "Very plausible" to both vignettes, replicating previous findings. In Study 3, the majority of professionals endorsed the belief that it is plausible to have inaccessible memories of childhood sexual abuse, but it varied across professional groups how strong the belief was, with highest scores among police and social workers. Our findings suggest that both laypeople and professionals typically hold the belief that an inability to remember the traumatic event is a likely and common reaction to childhood sexual abuse. The findings are important for informing the recurrent debate concerning repressed memories of childhood sexual abuse.