Abstract
In this chapter, the authors discuss factors that may influence the accuracy and perception of children's reports. Before delving into research and theory on children's eyewitness abilities, it is important to have a basic understanding of age trends in memory development. In any case, it is clear that many factors play a role in children's memory for traumatic and stressful events. Additionally, the authors review research on physiological stress responses—research that is furthering knowledge about how stress affects children's memory of traumatic and stressful events. Child abuse and neglect are major risk factors for anxiety, substance abuse, psychosis, and personality disorders. Considerable attention has been paid to individual difference predictors, aside from age, of children's memory and suggestibility. Child maltreatment places children at risk of trauma‐related psychopathology. Children's suggestibility and false memory are crucial issues in the study of children's eyewitness testimony.