Home > FASD and intellectual disability equivalence: a meta-analysis of suggestibility during forensic interviews.

Gilbert, David J and Azumara, Stephen Ikechukwu and Wheatcroft, Jacqueline M and Steele, Karen and Cook, Penny and Mukherjee, Raja and Gudjonsson, Gisli and Brown, Natalie Novick (2026) FASD and intellectual disability equivalence: a meta-analysis of suggestibility during forensic interviews. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 44, (3), pp. 450-460. https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.70052.

External website: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/bsl.70...

Intellectual disability (ID) equivalence describes conditions in which individuals function cognitively and adaptively at levels comparable to ID without meeting IQ-based diagnostic criteria. Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is characterised by impaired executive and adaptive functioning despite IQs often above the ID threshold, suggesting functional overlap with ID. This meta-analytic study is the first to examine whether FASD and ID share vulnerabilities in interrogative suggestibility. Two PRISMA-guided systematic searches of six databases were undertaken, and identified studies involving FASD or ID. Bayesian random-effects meta-analyses were conducted on Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale-2 outcomes: Yield 1, Yield 2, Shift, and Total Suggestibility. Individuals with FASD showed levels of interrogative suggestibility comparable to, and sometimes exceeding, those with ID across all indices. Effect sizes were large for both groups, with particularly elevated Shift scores in individuals with FASD. Both groups are highly vulnerable to leading questions and interrogative pressure. Individuals with FASD may be especially prone to changing responses following negative feedback, highlighting important forensic interviewing implications.


Item Type
Article
Publication Type
International, Open Access, Review, Article
Drug Type
Alcohol
Intervention Type
Harm reduction, Crime prevention
Date
March 2026
Identification #
https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.70052
Page Range
pp. 450-460
Publisher
Wiley
Volume
44
Number
3
EndNote

Repository Staff Only: item control page