Hostility ratings by parents at risk for child abuse: impact of chronic and temporary schema activation

OBJECTIVE: Two studies examined whether accessibility of hostility-related schema influenced ratings of ambiguous child pictures. Based on the social information processing model of child physical abuse (CPA), it was expected that CPA risk status would serve as a proxy for chronic accessibility of hostile schema, while priming procedures were used to manipulate temporary accessibility of hostility-related schema. METHODS: Participants included 108 parents (79 low and 29 high CPA risk) in Experiment 1 and 88 parents (43 low and 45 high CPA risk) in Experiment 2. Parents were randomly assigned to either hostile or neutral priming conditions. Following the priming procedures, all parents rated pictures that depicted children who appeared ambiguous with regard to the extent to which they were being hostile/cooperative. RESULTS: In both experiments, high, compared to low, CPA risk parents rated the ambiguous child pictures as more hostile. Further, both supraliminal (Experiment 1) and subliminal (Experiment 2) exposure to hostility-related words independently increased hostility ratings. In both experiments, the influence of chronic and temporary activation of hostile schema was additive and not interactive. CONCLUSION: Findings from these experiments are consistent with the proposition that high CPA risk parents are more likely to infer hostility in response to ambiguous child cues. Further, accessibility of hostility-related schema in parents increases the likelihood of hostile inferences, which in turn may increase attributions of hostile intent and aggressive parenting behaviors.     

Parents’ spontaneous evaluations of children and symbolic harmful behaviors toward their child

Parents’ evaluations of children are believed to be a cognitive contributor to their subsequent child-directed harsh or physically abusive behaviors. The current research examined whether parents’ (N = 100) evaluations of children were moderated by either (a) the child behavior on which the evaluation was based and (b) parents’ measured risk for child physical abuse. The study also explored whether parents’ evaluations of children were related to their tendencies to symbolically harm their child. The current study also used a novel method to indirectly assess parents’ evaluations of children: A modified Affect Misattribution Procedure. Contrary to a priori expectations, negative evaluations of children were stronger for parents who were at low risk, relative to high risk, for child physical abuse. Nonetheless, we observed that high-risk parents were more likely than low-risk parents to inflict symbolic harm onto their child. In an exploratory analysis we observed that parents who formed more overall negative evaluations of children engaged in more symbolic harm to their child. Although high-risk parents were more likely to symbolically harm their child than low-risk parents, this effect does not seem to be due to high-risk parents’ negative child evaluations from negative child behaviors.     

Borderline personality features and emotion regulation deficits are associated with child physical abuse potential

The present study extends prior research examining the association between borderline personality disorder (BPD) features and child physical abuse (CPA) risk. We hypothesized that: (1) high CPA risk parents (compared to low CPA risk parents) would more often report clinically elevated levels of BPD features; (2) high CPA risk parents with elevated BPD features would represent a particularly high-risk subgroup; and (3) the association between elevated BPD features and CPA risk would be partially explained by emotion regulation difficulties. General population parents (N = 106; 41.5% fathers) completed self-report measures of BPD features, CPA risk, and emotion regulation difficulties. Results support the prediction that BPD features are more prevalent among high (compared to low) CPA risk parents. Among the parents classified as high CPA risk (n = 45), one out of three (33.3%) had elevated BPD features. In contrast, none of the 61 low CPA risk parents reported elevated BPD symptoms. Moreover, 100% of the parents with elevated BPD features (n = 15) were classified as high-risk for CPA. As expected, high CPA risk parents with elevated BPD features (compared to high CPA risk parents with low BPD features) obtained significantly higher scores on several Child Abuse Potential Inventory scales, including the overall abuse scale (d = 1.03). As predicted, emotion regulation difficulties partially explained the association between BPD features and CPA risk. Findings from the present study suggest that a subset of high CPA risk parents in the general population possess clinically significant levels of BPD symptoms and these parents represent an especially high-risk subgroup. Interventions designed to address BPD symptoms, including emotion regulation difficulties, appear to be warranted in these cases.     

Parental responses to infant crying: the influence of child physical abuse risk and hostile priming

OBJECTIVE: Managing a crying infant is a challenge universally faced by new parents. This study examined whether parental interpretations, feelings, and behaviors following exposure to a 2-minute videotaped segment of a crying infant varied as a function of child physical abuse (CPA) risk and exposure to cues of hostility (i.e., hostile priming). METHOD: Participants included 84 general population parents (52 low and 32 high CPA risk) with valid and complete protocols. It was predicted that (1) negative trait ratings, (2) feelings of hostility, and (3) ability to modulate grip strength would differ across CPA risk groups (high vs. low) and priming conditions (hostile vs. neutral). RESULTS: As expected, high, compared to low, CPA risk parents rated the crying infant more negatively and reported higher levels of hostile feelings after watching the crying infant video. Hostile priming independently increased feelings of hostility, such that high CPA risk parents who were primed with hostile words reported higher levels of hostile feelings relative to all other conditions. Hostile priming also was modestly associated with increased use of excessive force when parents attempted to produce a half-strength grip; however this difference was apparent only among high CPA risk parents. CONCLUSIONS: High, compared to low, CPA risk parents rated the crying infant more negatively and reported higher levels of hostile feelings after watching the crying infant video. Hostile priming independently increased hostile feelings and was modestly associated with use of excessive force in the hand grip task among high CPA risk parents.     

Impact of child noncompliance on stress appraisals, attributions, and disciplinary choices in mothers at high and low risk for child physical abuse

OBJECTIVE: The study investigated the impact of repeated child noncompliance on stress appraisals, attributions, and disciplinary choices in high- and low-risk mothers. METHOD: Fifty (25 high-risk and 25 demographically, matched low-risk) mothers responded to questions related to stress appraisals, attributions, and disciplinary choices following presentations of a child engaging in repeated noncompliance. RESULTS: After repeated child noncompliance, high-risk, compared to low-risk, mothers perceived more threat and uncontrollability, rated child behaviors as more stressful, and reported higher levels of negative affect. High-risk mothers also reported more stable, global, and intentional attributions, with a trend toward more internal attributions, but did not differ in their evaluations of wrongness and seriousness of the child's behavior. After repeated noncompliance, a risk group difference was found in estimates of future child compliance but not in the use of power assertive discipline. CONCLUSIONS: Results support the view that high-risk, relative to low-risk, mothers are differentially responsive to stressful situations and differ in their attributions for negative child behaviors and in their expectations of future child compliance. However, since risk group differences in disciplinary choices were not also found, additional research is needed to demonstrate the process through which risk group cognitive and affective differences are related to differences in disciplinary behavior.     

Evaluations, attributions, affect, and disciplinary choices in mothers at high and low risk for child physical abuse

OBJECTIVE: The present study investigated several components of a social information-processing model of child physical abuse. The main objective was to examine the extent to which high-risk, relative to low-risk, mothers differed in their evaluations, attributions, negative affect, and disciplinary choices for children's behavior, and to explore whether these differences may be expressed in interactions between risk status and mitigating information. METHOD: Nineteen high- and 19 matched low-risk mothers' evaluations of children transgressions, attributions, affect, and choices of disciplinary techniques were examined using six vignettes depicting a child engaging in moral, conventional, and personal transgressions. One-half of the vignettes contained mitigating information and one-half did not. High- and low-risk mothers were chosen based on their potential for physical child abuse. A three-factor (2 x 3 x 2) design was used to assess the dependent variables. RESULTS: As expected, high-risk, relative to low-risk, mothers reported more hostile intent, stable and global attributions, aversiveness, annoyance, and use of power-assertion discipline. A risk group by type of transgression interaction was found for evaluation and indifference and a risk group by mitigating information interaction was found for evaluation of wrongness, internal attributions, and aversiveness. A risk by type of transgression by mitigating information interaction was found for global/specific attributions, aversiveness, and indifference toward child transgressions. CONCLUSIONS: Results support a social information processing model of child physical abuse, which suggests that high-risk, compared to low-risk, mothers process child-related information differently and use more power-assertive disciplinary techniques.     

Gender differences in empathy in parents at high- and low-risk of child physical abuse

OBJECTIVES: The present research was designed to study empathy in high-risk parents for child physical abuse. The main objective was to study if high-risk mothers and fathers, compared to low-risk mothers and fathers, presented more Personal distress, less Perspective-taking, less Empathic concern and a deficit in dispositional empathy toward their partner and children. METHOD: Based on their scores on the Abuse Scale of the CAP Inventory [J.S. Milner, The Child Abuse Potential Inventory: Manual, 2nd ed., Psytec Corporation, Webster, NC], 19 (9 fathers and 10 mothers) high- and 26 (12 fathers and 14 mothers) low-risk parents for child physical abuse were selected from a total sample of 331 parents of the Spanish general population. Both groups were statistically matched on sociodemographic variables. The Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) [Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology 10 (1980) 85] and the Parent/Partner Empathy Scale (PPES) [N.D. Feshbach, N. Caskey, A new scale for measuring parent empathy and partner empathy: factorial structure, correlates and clinical discrimination, 1985] were used to assess dispositional empathy. RESULTS: An interaction between risk status and gender for "Personal distress" and "Perspective-taking" was found. High-risk mothers for child physical abuse showed more "Personal distress" than low-risk mothers and low-risk fathers. High-risk fathers for child physical abuse showed less "Perspective-taking" than low-risk mothers and low-risk fathers. No difference between both groups was found for the IRI "Empathic concern" dimension. Moreover, high-risk, compared to low-risk, parents showed lower scores both on the "Empathy toward the partner" and on the "Empathy toward the child" dimensions of the PPES. No interaction between risk status and gender was found for the PPES dimensions. CONCLUSIONS: Findings of the present study supported the hypothesis that high-risk parents for child physical abuse show a deficit both in general empathy and in empathy toward their family members. Moreover, findings suggested the existence of a different pattern of deficits in empathy for high-risk fathers and high-risk mothers.     

Physiological responses to non-child-related stressors in mothers at risk for child abuse.

Physical child abusers and adults at risk for child abuse, relative to comparison subjects, are reported to be more physiologically reactive to child-related stressors. It is not known if the reported physiological reactivity is child specific or if physical child abusers and at-risk parents are also more reactive to other types of stressful stimuli. The present study investigated changes in heart rate and skin conductance in response to four types of non-child-related stressors in at-risk and matched low-risk mothers. The four types of stressful stimuli were: a cold pressor; a stressful film depicting industrial accidents; unsolvable anagrams; and an aversive car horn. At-risk mothers, relative to low-risk mothers, had greater and more prolonged sympathetic activation during presentations of the cold pressor and the stressful film, the stimuli rated as the most stressful. The present data, combined with previous findings, support the view that generalized sympathetic activation to both child and non-child-related stressors may serve as a mediator of physical child abuse.     

Dispositional empathy in high- and low-risk parents for child physical abuse

OBJECTIVE: The present study was designed to investigate dispositional empathy in high-risk parents for child physical abuse, using self-report instruments. More specifically, the objective was to know if high-risk parents for child physical abuse, in comparison with low-risk parents, show deficits on main dimensions of dispositional empathy: empathic concern, role-taking, and personal distress. METHOD: Based on their scores on the Abuse Scale of the CAP Inventory (Milner, 1986), 36 high-risk and 38 low-risk for child physical abuse participants were selected from a total sample of 440 Basque Country (Spain) general population parents. Both groups were statistically matched on sociodemographic variables. The Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI, Davis, 1980), the Hogan Empathy Scale (HES, Hogan, 1969) and the Questionnaire Measure of Emotional Empathy (QMEE, Mehrabian & Epstein, 1972) were used to assess dispositional empathy. RESULTS: As expected, high-risk, relative to low-risk, parents showed lower total scores on the HES and QMEE measures and lower scores on the IRI "Empathic concern" dimension. Moreover, high-risk, relative to low-risk, parents showed higher scores on the IRI "Personal distress" dimension. No differences between groups were observed for the IRI "Perspective-taking" dimension. CONCLUSIONS: Findings of the present study supported the hypothesis that high-risk parents for child physical abuse show a deficit in dispositional empathy. High-risk parents reported less feelings of warmth, compassion and concern for others and more feelings of anxiety and discomfort that result from observing another's negative experience.     

Mother-child interactional patterns in high-and low-risk mothers

Objective: The aim of the present study was to determine the extent to which mother-child interactional patterns in high-and low-risk (for child physical abuse) mothers were similar to patterns observed in physically abusive parents.Method: Ten high-risk and 10 demographically similar low-risk mother-child dyads were studied. Trained observers coded maternal-child interaction patterns in the home during five 1-hour periods using the Standardized Observation Codes system.Results: As expected, high-risk mothers made fewer neutral approaches to their children, displayed more negative behaviors toward their children, and made more indiscriminant responses to their children's prosocial behavior. Expected risk group differences were not found in the number of neutral instructions or positive responses, albeit the proportion of positive responses out of the total number of positive and negative responses was higher for low-risk mothers. After control for educational differences, risk group differences remained in the rates of neutral approaches and the number of indiscriminant behaviors made in response to children's prosocial behaviors.Conclusions: The observational data indicated that high-risk mothers display some behaviors similar to those observed in physically abusive mothers. The finding that high-risk mothers made more indiscriminate or noncontingent responses when reacting to their children's prosocial behavior is consistent with a coercive model of child physical abuse.     

Autonomy and adolescent social functioning: the moderating effect of risk

This study examined the moderating effect of risk on the relation between autonomy processes and family and adolescent functioning. The present sample comprised 131 adolescents from either a low-risk or high-risk social context, their mothers, and their peers. Observational ratings of autonomy processes within the mother-adolescent dyad were obtained, along with adolescent reports of the quality of the mother-adolescent relationship, and both adolescent and peer reports of the adolescent's functioning. Consistent with past research, in low-risk families, behavior undermining autonomy was negatively related to relationship quality, and adolescents' expressions of autonomy were linked with positive indices of social functioning. In high-risk families, however, undermining of autonomy was positively linked with mother-adolescent relationship quality, and adolescents' expressions of autonomy were linked with negative indices of social functioning. Results are interpreted as demonstrating the ways in which the developmental task of attaining autonomy in adolescence is systematically altered depending on the level of risk and challenge in the adolescent's social context.     

Community implementation outcomes of Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up

Bringing evidence-based treatments to community practice is a critical challenge for the field. When implemented in the community, evidence-based treatments often fail to provide the benefits shown in laboratory settings. Therefore, when evidence-based treatments are transported to the community, it is essential to investigate implementation process and outcomes. The present study assessed whether Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC), an intervention for high-risk parents that has been shown to be efficacious in randomized clinical trials (RCTs), changed parent behavior in a community-based setting. This study examined data collected from 78 cases by 9 parent coaches in a diverse community setting in Hawaii, and compared data to benchmarks from RCTs. Parent coach fidelity was coded from intervention session video clips, and was also compared with benchmarks. Caregivers participating in ABC were primarily birth parents, and most were referred through Child Protective Services involvement or for reasons of harsh parenting or neglect. Parental behavior was assessed before and after intervention using a semi-structured play task. Increases in parental following the lead and delight, and decreases in parental intrusiveness, were observed; these changes were comparable to effect sizes observed in RCTs. Intent to treat analyses were conducted using behavioral data from videotaped sessions, and suggested that ABC also improved following the lead in parents who subsequently dropped out of treatment. These results support the viability of ABC for enhancing parenting behavior among parents at high risk for maltreatment, and demonstrate that parent coaches in community agencies can successfully implement ABC.     

Achievement after failure: The role of achievement goals and negative self-related thoughts

Theory on achievement goals favours a trichotomous model encompassing learning goals, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals. Performance-avoidance goals are associated with lower achievement compared to performance-approach and learning goals. The present study investigated the predictions of this model as regards achievement after failure. Low achievement of participants with performance-avoidance goals was expected to be mediated by a high degree of negative self-related thoughts. Before manipulating achievement goals, achievement on verbal analogies was assessed. After manipulating achievement goals for an anagram task, all participants (N = 87) were exposed to failure. Subsequently, achievement on a parallel version of the verbal analogies task was assessed. Participants in the performance-avoidance goals condition showed low achievement after failure, mediated by a high degree of negative self-related thoughts.     

Do emotion regulation difficulties explain the association between executive functions and child physical abuse risk?

This study examined the associations between executive functioning problems, emotion regulation difficulties, and risk for perpetrating child physical abuse (CPA). It was hypothesized that: (a) poor executive functions (i.e., working memory problems and inhibition/switching problems) would be associated with higher levels of emotion regulation difficulties and CPA risk; (b) emotion regulation difficulties would be positively associated with CPA risk; and (c) emotion regulation difficulties would partially explain the association between executive functions (i.e., working memory problems and inhibition/switching problems) and CPA risk. To examine these predictions, a sample of 133 general population parents (31% fathers) completed self-report measures of CPA risk, emotion regulation difficulties, working memory problems, and a performance-based measure of inhibition/switching skills. Results revealed that executive functioning problems were linked with emotion regulation difficulties, which in turn were associated with CPA risk. Moreover, emotion regulation difficulties explained the relationship between executive functions (working memory, inhibition/switching) and CPA risk. The final model accounted for 41% of the variance in CPA risk. Although additional research is needed, the present findings suggest that enhancing parents’ executive functioning and teaching them effective emotion regulation skills may be important targets for CPA prevention efforts.     

Implicit attitudes toward children may be unrelated to child abuse risk

Objective

To explore whether adults possess implicit attitudes toward children and whether those attitudes are especially negative among respondents who are high in child physical abuse (CPA) risk.

Methods

The present study used an implicit evaluative priming procedure. In this procedure, participants were instructed to make decisions about the evaluative implications of target words. These words were preceded by photographs of child faces or adult faces displaying positive, neutral, or negative expressions. Reaction times for the evaluative decisions were used as an index of the extent to which photos invoked negative or positive evaluative reactions.

Results

Results from 2 studies, the first conducted on a student sample (N = 90) and the second on a parent sample (N = 95), demonstrated that evaluative congruence between the facial expressions displayed in photographs and the target words facilitated responses. Furthermore, the results suggested that regardless of CPA risk, child faces, relative to adult faces, facilitated responses to negative target words, suggesting an out-group bias. This implicit out-group bias was not moderated by respondents’ CPA risk status.

Conclusions

Faces of children, relative to faces of adults, appear to activate negative information structures that facilitate evaluative decisions of negative stimuli, suggesting an out-group bias. Given that out-group biases typically lead to less favorable treatment of out-group members, additional research is needed to examine the pervasiveness of negative evaluative biases towards children and the potential implications of such biases on children's lives. Further, research examining whether high CPA risk parents and low CPA risk parents differ in how they manage initial negative evaluative reactions is needed.     

Longitudinal associations between physically abusive parents’ emotional expressiveness and children’s self-regulation

The present study took a developmental psychopathology approach to examine the longitudinal association between parents’ emotional expressiveness and children’s self-regulation. Data collection spanned from 2004 to 2008. Ninety-two physically abusive parents completed yearly assessments of their emotional expressiveness, as well as their children’s self-regulation abilities. Observational and behavioral measures were also obtained yearly to capture both parents’ emotional expressiveness and children’s self-regulation. Specifically, parents participated in a parent-child interaction task, which provided insight into their levels of flat affect. A puzzle box task was completed by each child to assess self-regulation. Results indicated, first, that greater parental expression of negative emotions predicted poorer self-regulation in children, both concurrently and across time. Second, parental expressions of positive emotions and parents’ flat affect were unrelated to children’s self-regulation. Findings inform our understanding of parental socialization of self-regulation and provide insight into the roles of distinct components of emotional expressiveness. Moreover, findings have crucial implications for understanding emotional expressiveness in high-risk samples and increase our understanding of within-group functioning among maltreating families that may serve as a means to direct intervention efforts.     

Classroom Effects of a Hybrid Universal and Indicated Prevention Program for Preschool Children: A Comparative Analysis Based on Social and Emotional Competence Screening

Research Findings: The current study's main aim was to implement a multifocused, community-based intervention for preventing conduct problems in preschool children. Our assumption was that the same intervention program could be delivered concomitantly as a universal prevention program for all children as well as an indicated prevention program for high-risk children selected after screening for social and emotional competencies development. We used a quasi-experimental design with a between-subjects variable (intervention vs. comparison) and a within-subjects variable (preintervention, postintervention, and 3-month follow-up). The efficacy of the intervention was assessed for high-risk children targeted by the indicated intervention as well as for moderate- and low-risk children, who received the universal intervention. Practice or Policy: First, our results demonstrate the capacity of classroom-based interventions, without added pull-out sessions, to generate significant changes in high-risk children's competencies as well as externalizing and internalizing problems. Second, similar results were found for the moderate-risk, but not the low-risk, group, and these data suggest that marginally at-risk children are the most likely to benefit from participating in universal interventions. And third, comparing data from social and emotional competence risk groups indicates that underdeveloped emotional competencies might have a prolonged negative effect on children's social skills, which increases as a function of higher risk status.     

Child physical abuse – High school students’ mental health and parental relations depending on who perpetrated the abuse

The aim of this study was to contribute to the research of child physical abuse (CPA) by examining if there were any differences in high school students’ mental health (in this study symptoms of depression and anxiety, self-esteem and sense of coherence) and/or, in how they perceive their parents, depending on whether or not they had been subjected to CPA during childhood. In addition, if high school students reported different mental health and/or, relationships with their parents, depending on if their mother, father or both parents were the perpetrators of CPA.A representative national sample of high school students (N = 3288, data collected 2009) participated in the study. Participants completed the following: questions about CPA and alleged perpetrators, the Hopkins Symptom Checklist, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, the Sense of Coherence Scale and Parental Bonding Instrument.The results showed students who reported experiences of CPA were more likely to report symptoms of mental illness and negative perceptions of their parents’ parenting. However, there were no mental health differences depending on whether their mother, father or both parents were the perpetrators of CPA. Still, there were differences in perceived parenting indicating that mothers’ parenting was perceived as more negative when mothers only or both parents were perpetrators of the abuse than when only fathers were perpetrators.