J. Zoe Klemfuss

What the Stories Children Tell Can Tell about Their Memory: Narrative Skill and Young Children's Suggestibility.

The authors examined the relation between childrens narrative ability, which has been identified as an important contributor to memory development, and suggestibility. Across 2 studies, a total of 112 preschool-aged children witnessed a staged event and were subsequently questioned suggestively. Results from Study 1 indicated that childrens ability to provide a high-quality narrative of the event was related to resistance to suggestive questions, and narrative ability appeared to supersede age as a predictor of such resistance. In Study 2, childrens general language and narrative abilities were measured in addition to their ability to produce a high-quality narrative about the target event. These results replicated Study 1s findings that childrens ability to produce a high-quality narrative of a previously experienced event predicted resistance to suggestion. However, the quality of childrens autobiographical memory narratives predicted shifting from denial to assent. Findings are considered in light of narratives role in memory development and underlying mechanisms that may explain childrens suggestibility.

Individual Differences in Children’s Suggestibility: An Updated Review

ABSTRACT The present review is intended as an overview of our current understanding of how children’s individual characteristics, in terms of demographic, cognitive, and psycho-social variables, may influence their susceptibility to suggestion. The goals are to revisit conceptual models of the mechanisms of suggestibility, to provide an updated practical guide for practitioners, and to make recommendations for future research. Results suggest that children with intellectual impairment and those with nascent language skills may be particularly vulnerable to suggestion. Further, memory for separate events, theory of mind, executive function, temperament, and social competence may not be related to suggestibility, whereas additional work is needed to clarify the potential contributions of knowledge, stress, mental health, parental elaborative style, and adverse experiences/maltreatment to children’s suggestibility.

Attachment, Household Chaos, and Children’s Health.

Introduction: Despite growing interest in the links between sociocontextual factors and children’s behavioral functioning, few studies have investigated how such factors, in combination, relate to health outcomes or vary across mental and physical well-being. We evaluated the direct and interactive associations of parental attachment and household chaos with preschool-age children’s mental and physical health. Method: Ninety-four parents completed questionnaires about their attachment styles, disorganization and confusion in the home, and their children’s health functioning. Results: Attachment avoidance and anxiety in parents predicted poorer mental health in children, particularly in highly chaotic homes. Moreover, parental attachment anxiety, but not avoidance, predicted poorer reported physical health in children and, in conjunction with chaotic homes, more hospitalizations. Discussion: The results help illuminate how multiple domains in children’s immediate environment jointly influence their physical and mental health and how these influences may vary across domains of functioning. Findings have implications for targeting interventions to have impact across facets of children’s health.