Nikki Luke

Children's reasoning about the self-presentational consequences of apologies and excuses following rule violations

The accounts given by those who have violated a rule are likely to have important self-presentational consequences, potentially reducing the negative impact of the breach on social evaluations of transgressors. However, little is known about young childrens self-presentational reasoning about such accounts. In the present study, a sample of 120 4- to 9-year-olds responded to rule violation stories where the transgressor uses either an apology, an excuse, or no account. Results showed that whereas children rated both account types similarly in terms of their impact on punishment consequences, even the youngest saw apologies as leading to significantly more positive social evaluation than excuses. Correspondingly, children were more likely to identify prosocial motives for apologies than for excuses, and more likely to identify self-protective motives for excuses than for apologies. Explicit references to self-presentational motives when explaining the accounts increased significantly with age, and were more likely following social-conventional rather than moral rule violations.

Children’s Reasoning About Self‐Presentation Following Rule Violations: The Role of Self‐Focused Attention

Rule violations are likely to serve as key contexts for learning to reason about public identity. In an initial study with 91 children aged 4-9years, social emotions and self-presentational concerns were more likely to be cited when children were responding to hypothetical vignettes involving social-conventional rather than moral violations. In 2 further studies with 376 children aged 4-9years, experimental manipulations of self-focused attention (either by leading children to believe they were being video-recorded or by varying audience reactions to transgressions) were found to elicit greater attention to social evaluation following moral violations, although self-presentational concerns were consistently salient in the context of social-conventional violations. The role of rule transgressions in childrens emerging self-awareness and social understanding is discussed.

Modifiable predictors of depression following childhood maltreatment: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Although maltreatment experiences in childhood increase the risk for depression, not all maltreated children become depressed. This review aims to systematically examine the existing literature to identify modifiable factors that increase vulnerability to, or act as a buffer against, depression, and could therefore inform the development of targeted interventions. Thirteen databases (including Medline, PsychINFO, SCOPUS) were searched (between 1984 and 2014) for prospective, longitudinal studies published in English that included at least 300 participants and assessed associations between childhood maltreatment and later depression. The study quality was assessed using an adapted Newcastle–Ottawa Scale checklist. Meta-analyses (random effects models) were performed on combined data to estimate the effect size of the association between maltreatment and depression. Meta-regressions were used to explore effects of study size and quality. We identified 22 eligible articles (N=12 210 participants), of which 6 examined potential modifiable predictors of depression following maltreatment. No more than two studies examined the same modifiable predictor; therefore, it was not possible to examine combined effects of modifiable predictors with meta-regression. It is thus difficult to draw firm conclusions from this study, but initial findings indicate that interpersonal relationships, cognitive vulnerabilities and behavioral difficulties may be modifiable predictors of depression following maltreatment. There is a lack of well-designed, prospective studies on modifiable predictors of depression following maltreatment. A small amount of initial research suggests that modifiable predictors of depression may be specific to maltreatment subtypes and gender. Corroboration and further investigation of causal mechanisms is required to identify novel targets for intervention, and to inform guidelines for the effective treatment of maltreated children.

Adoptive parents’ experiences of social support and attitudes towards adoption:

The internalisation of stigma by adoptive parents has been related to depressive symptoms and dysfunctional family behaviour. This study investigates stigma internalisation and perception, and their relationships with social support from family, friends and the broader community. The aim is to determine the extent to which adoptive parents feel that societal attitudes are stigmatising and how social support influences stigma. Data were collected using an online survey and semi-structured interviews. Participants (n = 43) reported that the motivation to adopt and the nature of the adoptive family are poorly understood by non-adopters and that the media portrays parents in an unrealistic manner, as either ‘heroes’ or ‘desperate’. Location was found to be significant, with people living in cities perceiving lower stigma than those in towns, suburbs and rural areas. Social support came from an extended ‘family’ made up of close friends, other adopters and religious communities. The findings point to a need for more extensive education on adoption in schools and the media, for increased support services in less urbanised areas and for earlier support for parents adopting from outside their local authority.