The Word Game: An innovative strategy for assessing implicit processes in parents at risk for child physical abuse

Crouch, Julie L.; Irwin, Lauren M.; Wells, Brett M.; Shelton, Christopher R.; Skowronski, John J.; Milner, Joel S.

doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2012.04.004

Cited by 28 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Moreover, results from numerous studies attest to the validity of the CAP Inventory abuse scale (see Milner, , , ). For example, CAP Inventory abuse scores are significantly and positively associated with measures of parent aggression (Crouch et al, ; McCarthy, Crouch, Basham, Milner & Skowronski, ; Rodriguez, ). The CAP Inventory abuse scores produce discriminant analysis‐derived correct classification rates of child physical abusers and matched comparison parents that are in the mid‐80% to low‐90% range (Milner, , ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fading of Affect Associated with Negative Child‐Related Memories Varies by Parental Child Abuse Potential

Skowronski

Crouch

Coley

et al. 2016

Applied Cognitive Psychology

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Positive memories tend to hold their affective intensity across time better than negative memories, a phenomenon referred to as the fading affect bias (FAB). An initial study explored this bias in the context of parents' affective responses to memories involving their children. Specifically, parents (N = 90 for Study 1) were asked to recall three positive events and three negative events involving their children. Next, parents rated how positively or negatively they felt when each event occurred and at recall. Results revealed that parents at high risk of physical child abuse showed a smaller FAB than low-risk parents. The smaller FAB effect observed among high-risk parents occurred largely because affect associated with negative child-related events faded minimally over time. This risk moderation effect did not emerge in a second study in which parents (N = 90 for Study 2) recalled general events that were not limited to events involving children.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fading of Affect Associated with Negative Child‐Related Memories Varies by Parental Child Abuse Potential

Skowronski

Crouch

Coley

et al. 2016

Applied Cognitive Psychology

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“…Numerous studies report construct validity data for the CAP abuse scale (see Milner, 1986, 1994). For example, CAP Inventory abuse risk scores are significantly associated with measures of trait aggression in parents (Crouch et al, 2012) and the use of harsh discipline strategies by parents (Rodriguez, 2010). Classification rates based on discriminant analysis of child physical abusers and matched comparison parents are in the mid-80% to low-90% range (Milner, 1986, 1994).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Child physical abuse risk moderates spontaneously inferred traits from ambiguous child behaviors

McCarthy

Crouch

Skowronski

et al. 2013

Child Abuse & Neglect

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The present study examined whether parents at high-risk for child physical abuse (CPA) differed from low-risk parents in their tendency to infer positive traits and negative traits from children’s behaviors. The final sample consisted of 58 (25 low CPA risk and 33 high CPA risk) parents. Parents completed a false-recognition task, which involved viewing behavior descriptions paired with child photographs. Half of the behavior descriptions vaguely/strongly implied a trait and half of the implied traits were positive/negative. The contributions of automatic processes and controlled processes to task performance were examined using process dissociation procedures. Low CPA risk parents were significantly less likely to indicate negative traits were present in behavioral descriptions of children when negative traits were vaguely (compared to strongly) implied. In contrast, high CPA risk parents were equally likely to indicate negative traits were present regardless of whether the traits were vaguely or strongly implied. For low (but not high) CPA risk parents, automatic processes contributed significantly less to task performance when negative traits were vaguely implied compared to when the same traits were strongly implied. Given that parenting involves negotiating a seemingly endless series of ambiguous behaviors as children grow and develop, the capacity to refrain from automatically attributing negative traits to children when they exhibit vaguely negative behaviors may serve an important function in reducing risk of aggressive parenting behavior.

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“…For example, Lee and colleagues reported that implicit attitudes toward a romantic partner (assessed with a partner-focused GNAT) served as a more powerful predictor of relationship breakup over the following year than a set of self-reported indices of relationship quality (Lee, Rogge, & Reis, 2010). Crouch and colleagues (2012) demonstrated that parents who were at high risk for child abuse exhibited shortened latencies in responding to negative words as well as longer latencies in responding to positive words in an implicit word sorting task after losing in a competitive paradigm with an adult opponent. These results suggest that implicit assessments offer researchers a method of assessing attitudes of which subjects are not fully aware or which they are reluctant to fully report on self-report scales.…”

Section: A Consideration Of Implicit Attitudes Of Physical Disciplinementioning

confidence: 99%

Delving Beyond Conscious Attitudes: Validation of an Innovative Tool for Assessing Parental Implicit Attitudes Toward Physical Punishment

Sturge‐Apple

Rogge

Peltz

et al. 2015

Infant and Child Development

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Parenting scholars have long been interested in understanding the prevalence, determinants, and child outcomes associated with the use of physical discipline. To date, much of the empirical research in this area has utilized self-report measures to assess this construct. However, the subjective nature of participants’ explicit reports presents an important confound to studying this issue. Thus, the overarching aim of this study was to provide the first test of an implicit assessment of physical discipline through using a Go/No-go Association Task (GNAT). A GNAT-Physical Discipline was developed and examined in two separate studies of mothers and their 2-3 year old child. One study was conducted in an online format and the second within a laboratory design. Across both studies, findings suggested that the GNAT-Physical Discipline distinguished between positive and negative implicit attitudes towards the use of physical discipline. In addition, negative implicit attitudes were uniquely linked to maternal reports of physical discipline when compared to other discipline practices. Results suggest the potential for the GNAT paradigm in research on parental attitudes around the use of physical discipline in parenting contexts. In addition, our use of an online format (with implicit assessments of key constructs) demonstrates that child and family researchers may be able to explore their hypotheses in larger, geographically diverse samples.

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The Word Game: An innovative strategy for assessing implicit processes in parents at risk for child physical abuse

Cited by 28 publications

References 46 publications

Fading of Affect Associated with Negative Child‐Related Memories Varies by Parental Child Abuse Potential

Fading of Affect Associated with Negative Child‐Related Memories Varies by Parental Child Abuse Potential

Child physical abuse risk moderates spontaneously inferred traits from ambiguous child behaviors

Delving Beyond Conscious Attitudes: Validation of an Innovative Tool for Assessing Parental Implicit Attitudes Toward Physical Punishment

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