The role of trait anxiety in the association between the reporting of negative life events and interrogative suggestibility

The aim of this study was to investigate the role of trait anxiety in the relationship between the reported experience of negative life events and interrogative suggestibility. 127 participants completed the Gudjonsson Suggestibility Scale (GSS), the Life Events Questionnaire and the Neuroticism domain on the NEO Personality-Inventory Revised. Multivariate regression modelling showed that: (a) the extent to which interviewees reported and rated their life events negatively exerted a direct, positive, effect on Yield 1, Yield 2 and Shift scores – especially Yield 2 and Shift scores; and (b) trait anxiety moderated the effect of this negative life events intensity rating on Yield 1 scores, such that the effect was strongest at high trait anxiety scores. Trait anxiety may therefore be a valid indicator of suggestibility in the absence of explicit pressure, whereas interpretative factors may be a critical predictor of suggestibility in the presence of or after pressure has been applied. Implications and future directions are discussed.