Izaskun Ibabe

Risk Factors for Child-to-Parent Violence

One of the goals of the present work was to study the relationship between child-to-parent violence (CPV) and other types of intra-family violence such as inter-parental violence and parent-to-child violence, in order to verify which of these two types of domestic violence is a more relevant risk factor for CPV and to analyze the presence of gender differences in the bi-directionality of violence. Another purpose was to identify the psychological profile of perpetrators. The sample comprised 485 adolescents from the province of Gipuzkoa (Spain), of both sexes, taken from nine schools and aged 12 to 18. Parent-to-child violence and inter-parental violence were significant risk factors for CPV. Evidence was found in support of a social learning taking into account gender: boys were more likely to be physically aggressive toward the mother if she was also physically victimized by the father. Differences were found in the profiles of adolescents who behave violently toward their parents (inappropriate upbringing by mother, social maladjustment, and drug abuse) depending on gender.

Adult Eyewitness Memory and Compliance: Effects of Post-event Misinformation on Memory for a Negative Event

This study investigated effects of misleading post-event information, delay, and centrality definition on eyewitness memory and suggestibility for a negative event (a vividly filmed murder). Either immediately or 2 weeks after viewing the film, 93 adults read a (misleading or control) narrative about the event and then completed a recognition memory test. Misinformation acceptance was operative, but strong evidence for memory malleability was lacking. Compliance predicted misinformation effects, especially on the delayed test. Although accuracy was generally higher for central than peripheral information, centrality criteria influenced the pattern of results. Self-report of greater distress was associated with better recognition accuracy. The results suggest that use of different centrality definitions may partly explain inconsistencies across studies of memory and suggestibility for central and peripheral information. Moreover, social factors appeared, at least in part, to influence misinformation effects for the highly negative event, especially as memory faded. Implications for eyewitness memory and suggestibility are discussed.

The Contribution of Family Relationships to Child-to-Parent Violence

Child-to-parent violence is a social problem that is qualitatively different from other types of family violence, since adolescents direct their violence toward those who should represent authority and provide for their welfare. One of the goals of this study was to analyze the importance of the quality of family relationships and different strategies of family discipline with regard to violent or prosocial behavior of adolescents toward their parents. Structural Equation Modeling was used to test a model of violent behavior towards parents. Participants were 585 children aged between 12 and 18 from eight schools in the Basque Country (Spain). Positive family discipline and supervision were not associated with lower levels of violence against parents. Family relationships had direct effects on child-to-parent violence, and power-assertive discipline showed a mediating effect in that association. It seems that affectivity and quality of family relationships are the most important aspects for preventing violent behaviors.

Predictors of substance abuse treatment participation among homeless adults

The current study focuses on the relationships among a trauma history, a substance use history, chronic homelessness, and the mediating role of recent emotional distress in predicting drug treatment participation among adult homeless people. We explored the predictors of participation in substance abuse treatment because enrolling and retaining clients in substance abuse treatment programs is always a challenge particularly among homeless people. Participants were 853 homeless adults from Los Angeles, California. Using structural equation models, findings indicated that trauma history, substance use history and chronicity of homelessness were associated, and were significant predictors of greater recent emotional distress. The most notable result was that recent emotional distress predicted less participation in current substance abuse treatment (both formal and self-help) whereas a substance use history alone predicted significantly more participation in treatment. Implications concerning treatment engagement and difficulties in obtaining appropriate dual-diagnosis services for homeless mentally distressed individuals are discussed.

Conductas violentas de los adolescentes hacia las figuras de autoridad: el papel mediador de las conductas antisociales

Resumen El objetivo del estudio era analizar las conductas violentas y prosociales de los adolescentes hacia padres y profesores y la relación de dichas conductas con el clima familiar y escolar. La muestra estuvo compuesta por 687 adolescentes de ambos sexos y de edades comprendidas entre los 12 y 16 años de la provincia de Guipúzcoa (España). Los adolescentes informaron de niveles superiores de conductas prosociales hacia los padres que hacia los profesores, pero no había diferencias en relación a las conductas violentas. En el contexto familiar la cohesión y el conflicto, mediadas por las conductas antisociales, fueron factores predictores de la violencia filio-parental. Del mismo modo, la organización escolar y el conflicto familiar mediadas por las conductas antisociales de los adolescentes resultaron predictores significativos de la violencia contra los profesores. De ello se desprende que el conflicto familiar es un importante factor de riesgo tanto para las conductas antisociales como para las conductas violentas hacia las figuras de autoridad.

Strategic Interviewing to Detect Deception: Cues to Deception across Repeated Interviews

Previous deception research on repeated interviews found that liars are not less consistent than truth tellers, presumably because liars use a “repeat strategy” to be consistent across interviews. The goal of this study was to design an interview procedure to overcome this strategy. Innocent participants (truth tellers) and guilty participants (liars) had to convince an interviewer that they had performed several innocent activities rather than committing a mock crime. The interview focused on the innocent activities (alibi), contained specific central and peripheral questions, and was repeated after 1 week without forewarning. Cognitive load was increased by asking participants to reply quickly. The liars’ answers in replying to both central and peripheral questions were significantly less accurate, less consistent, and more evasive than the truth tellers’ answers. Logistic regression analyses yielded classification rates ranging from around 70% (with consistency as the predictor variable), 85% (with evasive answers as the predictor variable), to over 90% (with an improved measure of consistency that incorporated evasive answers as the predictor variable, as well as with response accuracy as the predictor variable). These classification rates were higher than the interviewers’ accuracy rate (54%).

Direct and indirect effects of family violence on child-to-parent violence / Efectos directos e indirectos de la violencia familiar sobre la violencia filio-parental

Abstract This study analyses the impact of family violence on adolescent maladjustment and child-to-parent violence in a community sample. It also explores a possible mediating effect of adolescent behavioural and/or emotional problems in the relationship between family violence and child-to-parent violence. The sample included 485 adolescents of both sexes, with an age range of 12 to 18 years. Two structural equation models are presented in the data analysis. The results support previous findings indicating that all forms of family violence appear to contribute to adolescent maladjustment. Moreover, indirect effects of family violence on child-to-parent violence through behavioural and emotional problems were found. The implications of these results are discussed.

Learning to Detect Deception from Evasive Answers and Inconsistencies across Repeated Interviews: A Study with Lay Respondents and Police Officers

Previous research has shown that inconsistencies across repeated interviews do not indicate deception because liars deliberately tend to repeat the same story. However, when a strategic interview approach that makes it difficult for liars to use the repeat strategy is used, both consistency and evasive answers differ significantly between truth tellers and liars, and statistical software (binary logistic regression analyses) can reach high classification rates (Masip et al., 2016b). Yet, if the interview procedure is to be used in applied settings the decision process will be made by humans, not statistical software. To address this issue, in the current study, 475 college students (Experiment 1) and 142 police officers (Experiment 2) were instructed to code and use consistency, evasive answers, or a combination or both before judging the veracity of Masip et al.s (2016b) interview transcripts. Accuracy rates were high (60% to over 90%). Evasive answers yielded higher rates than consistency, and the combination of both these cues produced the highest accuracy rates in identifying both truthful and deceptive statements. Uninstructed participants performed fairly well (around 75% accuracy), apparently because they spontaneously used consistency and evasive answers. The pattern of results was the same among students, all officers, and veteran officers only, and shows that inconsistencies between interviews and evasive answers reveal deception when a strategic interview approach that hinders the repeat strategy is used.

Academic Failure and Child-to-Parent Violence: Family Protective Factors.

A reduction in academic achievement over the course of adolescence has been observed. School failure is characterized by difficulties to teaching school goals. A variety of other behavioral problems are often associated with school failure. Child-to-parent violence has been associated with different school problems. The main objective of current study was to examine the contribution of family variables (parental education level, family cohesion, and positive family discipline) on academic failure and child-to-parent violence of adolescents from a community sample. Moreover, a goal was to explore if academic failure was a valid predictor of child-to-parent violence. To this end, it has been developed a comprehensive statistical model through Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Participants were 584 children from eight secondary schools in the Basque Country (Spain) and aged between 12 and 18. Among other scales Conflict Tactics Scale and Family Environment Scale were administrated for measuring child-to-parent violence and family cohesion environment, respectively. The structural model revealed that parental education level is a relevant protective factor against academic failure. Positive family discipline (inductive discipline, supervision, and penalty) show a significant association with child-to-parent violence and academic failure. Disciplinary practices could be more efficient to prevent child-to-parent violence or school failure if children perceive a positive environment in their home. However, these findings could be explained by inverse causality, because some parents respond to child-to-parent violence or academic failure with disciplinary strategies. School failure had indirect effects on child-to-parent violence through family cohesion. For all that, education policies should focus on parental education courses for disadvantaged families in order to generate appropriate learning environments at home and to foster improvement of parent-child relationships.

The role of violence between parents on the sexism and well-being of their children / El papel de la violencia entre progenitores en el sexismo y bienestar de los hijos e hijas

Abstract The main purpose of this study was to analyse whether children’s exposure to marital violence was associated with higher levels of hostile or benevolent sexism and with lower psychological well-being when they are adults. The sample consisted of 1,378 university students of both sexes aged between 17 and 30. As was expected, marital violence and ambivalent sexism inversely predicted children’s psychological well-being. Children’s exposure to marital violence was a significant predictor of ambivalent sexism, although its low predictive value is discussed.