Writing about the benefits of an interpersonal transgression facilitates forgiveness.

The authors examined the effects of writing about the benefits of an interpersonal transgression on forgiveness. Participants (N = 304) were randomly assigned to one of three 20-min writing tasks in which they wrote about either (a) traumatic features of the most recent interpersonal transgression they had suffered, (b) personal benefits resulting from the transgression, or (c) a control topic that was unrelated to the transgression. Participants in the benefit-finding condition became more forgiving toward their transgressors than did those in the other 2 conditions, who did not differ from each other. In part, the benefit-finding condition appeared to facilitate forgiveness by encouraging participants to engage in cognitive processing as they wrote their essays. Results suggest that benefit finding may be a unique and useful addition to efforts to help people forgive interpersonal transgressions through structured interventions. The Transgression-Related Interpersonal Motivations Inventory-18-Item Version (TRIM-18) is appended. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of student race and physical attractiveness on teachers' judgments of transgressions.

60 student teachers (STs) and 137 practicing teachers (PTs) rated the severity of classroom misbehaviors ascribed to either a Black or White attractive or unattractive child. Following student teaching, STs' ratings of Black children's transgressions significantly increased in severity, while ratings of White children's transgressions remained the same. PTs were affected by student attractiveness but not by race, with transgressions by attractive children of both races being rated more severely than transgressions by unattractive children. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Decisions and attitudes concerning child sexual abuse: does the gender of the perpetrator make a difference to child protection professionals?

OBJECTIVE: An investigation was conducted into whether child protection investigators, specifically social workers and the police, are as likely to take seriously a case of child sexual abuse if it had been perpetrated by a female rather than a male. Also, to examine whether the decisions relating to female-perpetrated abuse were predicted by participants' sex role perceptions of women and their attitudes concerning women's sexualized behavior towards children. METHOD: Participants advocated decisions in response to four hypothetical case of child sexual abuse in which the perpetrator was either male or female. The female perpetrators were then rated on femininity and masculinity characteristics and attitudes concerning women's sexualized behavior toward children were assessed. RESULTS: Following male--rather than female--perpetrated sexual abuse, case registration and imprisonment of the perpetrator was considered more appropriate by all participant groups; male social workers also considered social services involvement and investigation as more appropriate. A substantial number of decisions concerning female perpetrated abuse were predicted by participants' attitudes. CONCLUSION: While child protection professionals considered child sexual abuse perpetrated by females to be a serious issue warranting intervention, a number of advocated decisions suggested that they did not consider female-perpetrated abuse to be as serious as male-perpetrated abuse. The implication is that victims of sexual abuse perpetrated by a woman may be less likely to receive the protection afforded victims of male-perpetrated abuse. Furthermore, professionals' practices may be inadvertently perpetuating the view that female child sexual abuse is rare or less harmful than abuse carried out by males.     

Child abuse reporting decisions: Effects of statutory wording of reporting requirements.

Surveyed 297 licensed psychologists from Illinois and Washington to investigate the impact of statutory wording of reporting requirements on clinicians' decisions of whether or not to report child abuse. Participants each read a vignette of either a child showing signs of abuse or of an adult client showing signs of being abusive and indicated their initial likelihood of reporting and then their likelihood of reporting after reading either a law with broad reporting requirements or a law with narrow reporting requirements. Reading either law increased decisions to report the child case; however, reporting of the adult case decreased under the narrow law, which required observation of the abused child. Results support and extend earlier studies that demonstrate the direct effects of statutory wording on clinicians' reporting of suspected child abuse. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Behavioral and cognitive correlates of various immanent justice responses in children: Deterrent versus punitive moral systems.

Two studies examined behavioral and cognitive correlates of immanent justice responses in children. In Study 1, with 46 10–12 yr old Israeli children, those who had offered psychologically mediated causal (PMC) explanations for why adversities followed transgressions cheated more than children who gave either immanent causality (IC) or chance contiguity (CC) explanations. In Study 2, with 57 Ss, those who used PMC explanations anticipated others to experience guilt and to confess after transgressing, whereas those who gave IC and CC explanations did not anticipate such guilt reactions or confessions to occur. The 3 groups did not differ in their expectations that others would transgress. Data are discussed in light of the Piagetian, the Freudian, and the attributional views of immanent justice explanations. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Toddlers' social interactions in the context of moral and conventional transgressions in the home.

This study examined toddlers' naturally occurring moral and conventional transgressions in the home. Toddlers (N?=?36), divided between boys and girls at 24 and 36 months of age, were videotaped in two 45-min sessions, one with mothers and one with mothers and familiar peers. Responses to moral and conventional transgressions were coded from the videotapes. Moral transgressions were more frequent in the peer session, whereas conventional transgressions were more frequent when children were alone with mothers. Mothers' responses to conventional transgressions focused on social order and social regulation, whereas maternal and child responses to moral transgressions focused the transgressor on the consequences of the acts for others' rights or welfare. Mothers' affective responses to moral and conventional transgressions did not differ but were more negative than toddlers' responses. Conventional transgressions increased with age, whereas girls' (but not boys') moral transgressions decreased with age. Sequential analyses suggested that this latter finding might be due to mothers' differential responses to girls' and boys' moral transgressions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparative study of distraction versus topical anesthesia for pediatric pain management during immunizations.

This study compared distraction, an anesthetic (eutectic mixture of local anesthetics [EMLA]), and typical care during pediatric immunizations. Participants were 39 4th graders receiving a 3-injection vaccination series over a 6-month period. Children displayed low distress despite reporting moderate anxiety and pain. Distraction resulted in more nurse coaching and child coping and less child distress than did EMLA or typical care on an observational measure. EMLA did not result in increased child coping or decreased distress. In fact, the nurse coached more, and trends suggested that children coped more with typical care than with EMLA. Whereas participant ratings and heart rate did not differ among conditions, all 3 conditions demonstrated improvements over time with these measures. Satisfaction ratings suggested that children preferred the treatments to typical care, whereas the nurse appreciated aspects of each of the conditions. Finally, distraction was more economical than EMLA. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maltreated and nonmaltreated preschoolers' conceptions of hypothetical and actual moral transgressions

Maltreated and nonmaltreated preschoolers' (mean age = 4 years 6 months) judgments regarding hypothetical and actual moral transgressions were examined. Thirty-six maltreated children (17 physically abused and 19 neglected) and 19 comparison nonmaltreated children judged, justified, and evaluated affective responses to 6 hypothetical moral transgressions. Perpetrators and victims also judged and evaluated affective responses to actual classroom moral transgressions. All children evaluated moral transgressions as very serious, punishable, and wrong in the absence of rules. Moral judgments and justifications differed as a function of context (hypothetical vs. actual) and type of transgression but not maltreatment status. Affective responses differed as a function of maltreatment subtype and gender. Maltreated and nonmaltreated children may differ in the organization of their affective responses rather than in their moral evaluations.     

Experts' and novices' abilities to detect children's high-stakes lies of omission.

We investigated adults' abilities to detect lies told by 3- to 6-year-old children. Expert forensic interviewers and novices watched videotapes of children who either lied or told the truth about their parent's transgression, rendered a dichotomous judgment of whether the child lied, rated their confidence in that judgment, and rated the children on various characteristics. Adults detected lies with greater than chance—but not impressive—accuracy, regardless of expertise level. Older children's lies were more detectable by experts than were younger children's. Adults were more confident in their judgments about older than younger children. Confidence in lie/truth judgments was not significantly correlated with actual lie detection accuracy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Is an intestinal permeability test a valid marker for slight dietary transgressions in adolescents with coeliac disease?

Adolescents with coeliac disease often fail to adhere to a strict gluten free diet. The effectiveness of intestinal permeability to sugars as a marker of slight dietary transgressions by such adolescents was assessed. Severe dietary transgressions were excluded from the study. Subjects were divided into two groups according to whether they committed slight dietary transgressions or adhered to a strict gluten free diet. A reference group of preadolescents with coeliac disease was also included in the study. Intestinal permeability and antigliadin antibody tests were performed on all patients. The diagnostic marker of intestinal permeability was excellent in the reference group. Neither the intestinal permeability test nor antigliadin antibody tests, however, succeeded in discriminating between the two groups of adolescents considered in this study. In conclusion the intestinal permeability test is not a valid marker for slight dietary transgression in such patients.     

What Aspects of Peer Relationships Are Impaired in Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder?

Participants included 165 children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; 130 boys, 35 girls) and their 1,298 same-sex classmates (1,026 boys, 272 girls) who served as raters. For each child with ADHD, a child of the same sex was randomly selected from the same classroom to serve as a comparison child, which yielded 165 dyads. Consistent with predictions, contrasted with the comparison children, those with ADHD were lower on social preference, higher on social impact, less well liked, and more often in the rejected social status category; they also had fewer dyadic friends. When liking ratings that children made versus received were examined, children with ADHD had less positive imbalance and greater negative imbalance relative to comparison children. Analyses that considered the types of peers who chose children with ADHD as friends or nonfriends demonstrated that children with ADHD were nominated as nonfriends by children of higher social preference and who were better liked by others. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Young children's responses to guilt displays.

Displaying guilt after a transgression serves to appease the victim and other group members, restore interpersonal relationships, and indicate the transgressors' awareness of and desire to conform to the group's norms. We investigated whether and when young children are sensitive to these functions of guilt displays. In Study 1, after 4- and 5-year-old children watched videos of transgressors either displaying guilt (without explicitly apologizing) or not displaying guilt, 5-year-olds appropriately inferred that the victim would be madder at the unremorseful transgressor and would prefer the remorseful transgressor. They also said that they would prefer to interact with the remorseful transgressor, judged the unremorseful transgressor to be meaner, and, in a distribution of resources task, gave more resources to the remorseful transgressor. The 4-year-olds did not draw any of these inferences and distributed the resources equally. However, Study 2 showed that 4-year-olds were able to draw appropriate inferences about transgressors who explicitly apologized versus those who did not apologize. Thus, 4-year-olds seem to know the appeasement functions that explicit apologies serve but only when children have reached the age of 5 years do they seem to grasp the emotions that apologies stand for, namely, guilt and remorse, and the appeasement functions that displaying these emotions serve. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Variation in seriousness of transgressions and children's moral and conventional concepts.

We examined children's conceptions about moral and conventional transgressions that differed on quantitative dimensions. Sixty-one children in Grades 1, 2, and 5 were administered an interview to assess how variation in seriousness of transgressions influenced their reasoning about moral and conventional events on the dimensions of importance and conceptual criteria. Assessments included behavioral-choice questions, attributions of importance, criterion judgments, and justifications. Children at all ages stated that peers would engage in the moral transgression rather than the highly deviant conventional ones, but that peers should choose the conventional transgressions rather than the moral ones. The results also showed that, for the most part, children ranked the moral transgressions as more wrong than the conventional transgressions and rated the moral rules as more important than the conventional rules. The pattern of findings demonstrated that the distinction between morality (minor and major) and convention (major) on the criterion judgments was made more comprehensively by older than younger children. Justifications differed by domain at all ages. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Those who broke the cycle: Therapy with nonabusive adults who were physically abused as children.

Based on observations of 10 nonabusive adults who were physically abused as children, it is contended that these Ss differ from abusive adults who were abused as children in significant ways. It is recommended that abused children receive intensive therapy either at the time that the abuse is discovered or at a developmentally more appropriate stage to block persistence of symptoms into adulthood. It is suggested that these nonabusive adults present a constellation of symptoms that may not be recognized as posttraumatic stress syndrome. For both the abused child and the adult a highly interactive course of therapy is recommended, during which the major goal is reparenting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prospective effects of interparental conflict on child attachment security and the moderating role of parents' romantic attachment.

This study investigated the impact of parents' observed conflict behavior on subsequent child attachment security, both as a main effect and as moderated by parents' romantic attachment. Participants were 80 heterosexual couples involving men from the Oregon Youth Study and their first-born children. The authors used hierarchical linear modeling to predict child security with each parent. Interparental psychological aggression predicted lower child security with father, regardless of romantic attachment. If the father was insecure, interparental positive engagement predicted lower child security with him. If either the mother or father was avoidant, interparental withdrawal did not predict lower child security, though it did for more secure parents. Results are discussed in terms of implications of attachment-(in)congruent behavior for parents' emotional availability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Child abuse and dentistry: what you should know

Dentistry must become more aware of its moral, legal and ethical responsibilities in recognizing and reporting child abuse and neglect. All dental professionals must be aware of the seriousness of the problems of child maltreatment, and understand that children do not just get hurt in abuse and neglect, they often die as a direct result of their maltreatment. It has been said that victims of child abuse and neglect fall into only two categories--those who lived through it, and those who did not.     

Child and parent reports of childhood anxiety: differences in coping styles

This study compares children anxious only on parent report (PR) with those anxious on self-report (SR) and self- and parent report (SPR) to examine the reasons for the reporting differences. Sixty-five children aged 7-12 years who met criteria for one or more Axis I anxiety disorders (25% with comorbid nonanxiety diagnoses) completed standardized measures of anxiety, depression, and coping style. Parents completed measures of child psychopathology and adult coping style. Assessing clinicians completed the Global Assessment of Functioning. All parents endorsed anxiety in their children. Based on their responses on standardized self-report measures of anxiety, children were classified as endorsing anxiety (SPR group) or not endorsing anxiety (PR group). Multivariate analysis of variance revealed that children in the SPR group endorsed more depression and employed a greater variety of coping strategies than children in the PR group. The two groups did not differ on parent or clinician measures. These findings suggest that reporting differences may be related to differences in coping styles in anxious children. SPR children may over report anxiety symptoms due to feelings of decreased self-worth associated with depressive thinking, whereas PR children may be able to distract themselves from their anxieties. The lack of difference in functioning between the two groups suggests that self-report anxiety questionnaire scores are not necessarily indicative of severity.     

Psychometric properties of family members' reports of parental physical aggression toward clinic-referred children.

This study examined (a) differences among mothers', fathers', and children's reports of parental physical aggression toward children; (b) the reliability and validity of family members' reports of aggression using confirmatory factor analysis; and (c) the discriminant validity of the construct of mother–child and father–child aggression. Participants were 72 dual-parent families in which the parents were seeking clinical services for their children's (ages 7–9 years) conduct behavior problems. Each participant completed the parent–child version of the Conflict Tactics Scale (P-CTS). Results indicate that children reported lower levels of mother–child and father–child aggression than either mothers or fathers reported. Although the reliability (total systematic variance accounted for by observed variables) of family members' reports on the P-CTS ranged from moderate to high, convergent validity was generally low. The constructs of mother–child and father–child aggression were highly correlated but could be distinguished from each other when relationships among rater effects were considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Rumination, fear, and cortisol: An in vivo study of interpersonal transgressions.

The authors sought to examine whether rumination about psychologically painful, though nontraumatic, interpersonal transgressions is associated with increased salivary cortisol. They measured salivary cortisol, rumination about a transgression, fear and anger regarding the transgressor, perceived painfulness of the transgression, and positive and negative mood in 115 undergraduates who had experienced an interpersonal transgression during the previous 7 days. They obtained measurements on as many as 5 occasions separated by approximately 14 days each. On occasions when participants reported that they had been ruminating to a degree that was greater than was typical for them, they had higher levels of salivary cortisol than was typical for them. The rumination- cortisol association appeared to be mediated by fear of the transgressor. Rumination about even moderately painful but nontraumatic life events and associated emotions are related to biological changes that may subserve social goals such as avoiding social threats. Items from the rumination scale are appended. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)