Maternal Reminiscing Is Associated With Preschoolers’ Reports of Maltreatment During Forensic Interviews

Abstract

Children’s reports during forensic interviews regarding maltreatment allegations are often critical for legal processes and for guiding decisions regarding services for children and their families. Field research examining forensic interviews with children has identified a wide range in the amount of information children report to interviewers. Research examining associations between children’s forensic reports and their broader ecological and developmental contexts related to autobiographical memory would critically contribute to our understanding of children’s reports of trauma during forensic investigations. Guided by the sociocultural theory of autobiographical memory development and a self-determination perspective of interviewing child witnesses, associations between the number of allegation-relevant details reported by 52 preschoolers ( M = 4.59 years old, SD = 1.06) during forensic interviews concerning substantiated maltreatment allegations and later maternal elaborative and autonomy supportive reminiscing from observations of mother–child interactions during a laboratory assessment were examined. Consistent with previous research regarding children’s autobiographical memory, a positive association between maternal elaborative reminiscing about everyday experiences with their children and the number of unique allegation-relevant details children reported during forensic interviews was observed, but only when mothers reminisced with their children in an autonomy supportive manner. Theoretical and practical implications for interviewing child witnesses are discussed.

How parents can shape what children remember: Implications for the testimony of young witnesses.

“…In such situations, parents understandably would be highly motivated to get to the bottom of their concerns. Admittedly, parents’ questioning style and children’s susceptibility to maternal bias may differ when centered on legally relevant events, though Lawson et al (2021) found that maternal reminiscing styles predicted children’s disclosure of maltreatment in forensic interviews. Below, in the final section, we conclude by further discussing the forensic implications of the parent–child studies and by offering several recommendations for forensic practice.…”

Maternal maltreatment as a context for mother–child conversations and children’s reports of experienced and nonexperienced abuse.

“…Maltreating mothers who discuss the past with their children in more detailed, coherent, and emotionally sensitive ways have children with better psychological adjustment (Valentino et al, 2022) and increased autobiographical memory skills (Valentino et al, 2021), including enhanced memory for abuse and neglect (Lawson, Jaeger, et al, 2021). However, relative to children with nonmaltreating mothers, children with maltreating mothers are less likely to experience the maternal support and scaffolding necessary to facilitate children’s memory and adjustment following sexual abuse (Salmon & Reese, 2015).…”

“…Maternal elaboration refers to maternal use of open-ended questions, closed-ended questions, and embellishment upon details (Nelson & Fivush, 2004). Maternal autonomy support refers to the extent to which mothers expand on topics introduced by children and encourage children to provide their own perspectives of events (Cleveland & Reese, 2005; Lawson, Jaeger, et al, 2021). Mothers can simultaneously vary in elaboration and autonomy support.…”

“…including enhanced memory for abuse and neglect (Lawson, Jaeger, et al, 2021). However, relative to children with nonmaltreating mothers, children with maltreating mothers are less likely to experience the maternal support and scaffolding necessary to facilitate children's memory and adjustment following sexual abuse (Salmon & Reese, 2015).…”

Recommendations for improving the reliability of fresh complaint testimony in child witness investigations.

“…Existing research on conversation in child witness cases has primarily focused on what children remember from conversations with parents or perpetrators (e.g., Lawson & London, 2017; Lyon & Stolzenberg, 2014; Stolzenberg et al, 2018) or how parents shape their children’s subsequent memory reports (e.g., Klemfuss et al, 2016; Lawson et al, 2018, 2021; Poole & Lindsay, 2001; Principe et al, 2017). Far fewer studies have examined adults’ memory for conversations with children, but, as Principe and London (2022) note, collectively their findings are consistent with the broader literature on conversational memory which found that witnesses are more proficient at recalling a conversation’s gist (i.e., general representations of conversational content) than its verbatim content (e.g., the conversation’s structure; Brown-Schmidt & Benjamin, 2018; Davis & Friedman, 2007; Hirst & Echterhoff, 2012).…”