The present study aimed to assess the relation between the frequency of traumatic event (episodic abuse versus chronic and repeated abuse) and the narrative of event, in terms of completeness and coherence. 80 allegations of children (M = 10 years; DS = 4; range = 4-17 years), who were victims of sexual abuse, were analysed, through the Narrative Categories Used to Code the Memory Reports (Bauer et al., 2014), to evaluate the completeness, and the Narrative Coherence Coding Scheme (Reese et al., 2011), analyze the coherence. Results showed that the frequency of traumatic event could influence children’s ability to organize a narrative in terms of completeness and coherence, in terms of temporal location and organization of the events.
Keywords: Child sexual abuse; narrative coherence; child testimony; trauma.