Jodi A. Quas

Associations between physiological reactivity and children's behavior: advantages of a multisystem approach.

ABSTRACT. The past decade has seen a notable increase in interest in and research concerning the physiological correlates of behavior problems in childhood. The present article reviews what this growing body of research has revealed. The main tenet is that disruptions in both sympathetic and adrenocortical regulation appear to be common among children with internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. The associations between such neuroendocrine alterations and behavior are discussed and their implications for the fields of stress physiology, neuroendocrinology, and developmental psychopathology are outlined. It is proposed that substantial advances can be made by investigating patterns of physiological responses among multiple, concurrent systems rather than individual response systems.

A Prospective Study of Memory for Child Sexual Abuse New Findings Relevant to the Repressed-Memory Controversy

Previous research indicates that many adults (nearly 40%) fail to report their own documented child sexual abuse (CSA) when asked about their childhood experiences. These controversial results could reflect lack of consciously accessible recollection, thus bolstering claims that traumatic memories may be repressed. In the present study, 175 individuals with documented CSA histories were interviewed regarding their childhood trauma. Unlike in previous studies, the majority of participants (81%) in our study reported the documented abuse. Older age when the abuse ended, maternal support following disclosure of the abuse, and more severe abuse were associated with an increased likelihood of disclosure. Ethnicity and dissociation also played a role. Failure to report CSA should not necessarily be interpreted as evidence that the abuse is inaccessible to memory, although inaccessibility or forgetting cannot be ruled out in a subset of cases.

Predictors of attributions of self‐blame and internalizing behavior problems in sexually abused children

BACKGROUND The purpose of the present study was to identify predictors of two potential sequelae of child sexual abuse, self-blame attributions and internalizing behavior problems. METHODS In the study, detailed information was collected on 218 victims of sexual abuse aged 4 to 17, involved in criminal cases, about their background, the abuse, and their mothers reaction following discovery of the abuse. RESULTS Increased attributions of self-blame were predicted by the child having a close relationship with the perpetrator, experiencing severe sexual abuse (e.g., long-lasting abuse that involved penetration), perceiving the abuse as disgusting, and coping with the abuse by pretending it was not happening. Similar factors did not emerge as predictors of internalizing behavior problems. CONCLUSIONS Results suggest that different child and abuse characteristics predict the two sequelae often associated with childhood sexual abuse. Thus, although self-blame attributions and behavior problems are often considered similar consequences of sexual abuse, there appears a need to distinguish the two types of outcomes following sexual victimization in childhood.

Developmental Differences in the Effects of Repeated Interviews and Interviewer Bias on Young Children's Event Memory and False Reports

The present study investigated developmental differences in the effects of repeated interviews and interviewer bias on childrens memory and suggestibility. Three- and 5-year-olds were singly or repeatedly interviewed about a play event by a highly biased or control interviewer. Children interviewed once by the biased interviewer after a long delay made the most errors. Children interviewed repeatedly, regardless of interviewer bias, were more accurate and less likely to falsely claim that they played with a man. In free recall, among children questioned once after a long delay by the biased interviewer, 5-year-olds were more likely than were 3-year-olds to claim falsely that they played with a man. However, in response to direct questions, 3-year-olds were more easily manipulated into implying that they played with him. Findings suggest that interviewer bias is particularly problematic when childrens memory has weakened. In contrast, repeated interviews that occur a short time after a to-be-remembered event do not necessarily increase childrens errors, even when interviews include misleading questions and interviewer bias. Implications for developmental differences in memory and suggestibility are discussed.

Metacognitive emotion regulation: children's awareness that changing thoughts and goals can alleviate negative emotions.

Metacognitive emotion regulation strategies involve deliberately changing thoughts or goals to alleviate negative emotions. Adults commonly engage in this type of emotion regulation, but little is known about the developmental roots of this ability. Two studies were designed to assess whether 5- and 6-year-old children can generate such strategies and, if so, the types of metacognitive strategies they use. In Study 1, children described how story protagonists could alleviate negative emotions. In Study 2, children recalled times that they personally had felt sad, angry, and scared and described how they had regulated their emotions. In contrast to research suggesting that young children cannot use metacognitive regulation strategies, the majority of children in both studies described such strategies. Children were surprisingly sophisticated in their suggestions for how to cope with negative emotions and tailored their regulatory responses to specific emotional situations.

Individual Differences in Emotional Memory: Adult Attachment and Long-Term Memory for Child Sexual Abuse

In the present study, attachment-related differences in long-term memory for a highly emotional life event, child sexual abuse (CSA), were investigated. Participants were 102 documented CSA victims whose cases were referred for prosecution approximately 14 years earlier. Consistent with the proposal that avoidant individuals defensively regulate the processing of potentially distressing information (Bowlby, 1980), attachment avoidance was negatively associated with memory for particularly severe CSA incidents. This finding was not mediated by the extent to which participants reported talking about the abuse after it occurred, although postabuse discussion did enhance long-term memory. In addition, accuracy was positively associated with maternal support following the abuse and extent of CSA-related legal involvement. Attachment anxiety was unrelated to memory accuracy, regardless of abuse severity. Implications of the findings for theories of avoidant defensive strategies and emotional memory are discussed.

Repeated Interviews and Children's Memory It's More Than Just How Many

A crucial issue in the study of eyewitness memory concerns effects of repeated interviews on childrens memory accuracy. There is growing belief that exposure to repeated interviews causes increased errors. In some situations, it may. Yet, several studies reveal increased accuracy with repeated interviewing, even when the interviews include misleading questions. We review repeated-interview research in relation to event veracity, interviewer bias, and delay. We conclude that when and how children are interviewed is at least as important for their accuracy as is how many times they are interviewed.

Theoretical advances in understanding children’s memory for distressing events: The role of attachment

Abstract There has been considerable debate regarding the effects of stress on children’s memory, and a growing body of research has developed to address this issue. An important direction in this line of research concerns sources of individual differences in children’s memory for distressing experiences. The focus of this review is on one such source, namely attachment and how attachment theory may provide a theoretical framework from which to understand the association between stress and memory in children. We first provide an overview of research concerning children’s coping with and memory for stressful events. We then briefly describe the main tenets of attachment theory, emphasizing those tenets with implications for children’s reactions to and memory for distressing experiences. Next, we review empirical evidence and discuss theoretical implications of attachment’s potential influence on children’s encoding, retention, and retrieval of stressful events. Throughout this review, we discuss important questions and directions for future research, and we highlight theoretical and applied implications regarding relations among emotion, attachment, and memory in childhood.

Detecting deception in children: event familiarity affects criterion-based content analysis ratings.

Statement Validity Assessment (SVA) is a comprehensive credibility assessment system, with the Criterion-Based Content Analysis (CBCA) as a core component. Worldwide, the CBCA is reported to be the most widely used veracity assessment instrument. We tested and confirmed the hypothesis that CBCA scores are affected by event familiarity; descriptions of familiar events are more likely to be judged true than are descriptions of unfamiliar events. CBCA scores were applied to transcripts of 114 children who recalled a routine medical procedure (control) or a traumatic medical procedure that they had experienced one time (relatively unfamiliar) or multiple times (relatively familiar). CBCA scores were higher for children in the relatively familiar than the relatively unfamiliar condition, and CBCA scores were significantly correlated with age. Results raise serious questions regarding the forensic suitability of the CBCA for assessing the veracity of childrens accounts.

Salivary cortisol responses to a psychosocial laboratory stressor and later verbal recall of the stressor: The role of trait and state rumination

This study investigated whether trait rumination predicts greater increases in salivary cortisol concentration and delayed recovery in response to a standardized, acute laboratory psychosocial stressor (modified Trier Social Stress Test). It also tested whether trait and state rumination predict reactivation of the cortisol response during later verbal recall of the stressor. Fifty-nine undergraduates (31 females; 28 males) completed the stress protocol and returned 2 weeks later for a surprise interview about the first session, conducted in either a supportive or unsupportive context. Participants completed a measure of trait rumination and reported negative thoughts about the stressor in the 2 weeks between sessions (state rumination). Trait rumination was associated with greater reactivity of salivary cortisol level and delayed recovery from the stressor, F(1,310) = 6.77, p < 0.001. It also predicted greater cortisol reactivity when recalling the stressor, but only for males in the unsupportive interview context, F(2,119) = 7.53, p < 0.001. This effect was heightened for males who also scored high on state rumination, F(2,119) = 7.53, p < 0.001. Rumination was not associated with cortisol responses to the interviews in females. The findings indicate that rumination may play a role in prolonging cortisol stress responses through delayed recovery and reactivation and that rumination disposition and the context of stressor recall are important in understanding the rumination–cortisol response association.