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Autobiographical memory (AM) is a socially-relevant cognitive skill. Little is known regarding AM during early childhood in ASD. Parent-child reminiscing conversations predict AM in non-ASD populations but have rarely been examined in autism. To address this gap, 17 preschool-aged children (ages 4-6 years) with ASD and 21 children without ASD matched on age, sex, and expressive language completed assessments of AM, executive functioning, self-related variables, and a parent-child reminiscing task. Children with ASD had less specific AM, which related to theory of mind, self-concept, and working memory. AM specificity also related to child observed autism traits. Mothers of children with ASD made more closed-ended and off-topic utterances during reminiscing, although only maternal open-ended elaborations predicted better AM in ASD.

The current investigation reports the results of a randomized controlled trial of a brief, relational intervention for maltreated preschool-aged children and their mothers, called Reminiscing and Emotion Training (RET). RET facilitates elaborative and emotionally supportive parent-child communication, which is an essential component of the parent-child relationship and is especially relevant for the preschool age period. Participants were 248 children between the ages of 3- to 6-years-old and their mothers. Following a baseline assessment, 165 maltreating families were randomized into RET or a Community Standard (CS) condition in which families received case management and written parenting information; 83 families participated in the nonmaltreating comparison condition. Results indicated that the key mechanisms targeted by the RET interventions were enhanced, such that mothers who participated in RET were significantly better in elaboration and sensitive guidance during reminiscing at the posttest than were maltreating mothers who did not receive the intervention, with medium to large effect sizes; additionally, mothers in the RET group were more elaborative than mothers from the nonmaltreatment group. Children in the RET condition also contributed significantly more memories and had better emotional knowledge than did children in the CS condition, controlling for baseline values and language, and approximated the functioning of nonmaltreated children. These findings add to a growing literature underscoring the benefits of brief, focused, relational interventions for maltreated children and their caregivers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Whether postevent discussions with parents influence children's subsequent reports and how children remember such conversations are critical contemporary questions regarding child witnesses. In the present study, 155 4- to 7-year-olds participated in a staged event and discussed the event with knowledgeable or misled parents prior to a formal interview. The impact of parental bias and child age on parent–child conversations and in children's formal reports were assessed. Young children with misled parents were the least accurate during parent–child conversations. Although recall of the event during formal interviews contained few inaccuracies, misinformation and facilitation effects emerged in children's recognition memory. Children demonstrated limited recall for the content of parent–child conversations and infrequently attributed parents as the origin of misinformation. The findings indicate that postevent discussions with misled parents increase the risk of false reports. Relying on children's recall of parent–child conversations may underestimate the extent of potential parental influence. General Audience Summary: Children often provide testimony as witnesses and victims of crimes. Children can be highly accurate witnesses, but they may agree with incorrect information and may continue to report incorrect information suggested by adults when recalling the event at a later time. Legal professionals and researchers have become concerned that informal conversations with parents prior to formal investigative interviews may compromise the reliability of children's formal reports, especially if parents hold inaccurate beliefs about the event prior to speaking with their children. In the present study, 155 4- to 7-year-olds participated individually in a staged event. Children then discussed the event with their parent who was either given true (knowledgeable) versus a mix of true and false (misled) event information prior to parent–child conversations. Children's reports for both the event and the parent–child conversation were evaluated during an analog forensic interview with an unfamiliar adult. The results revealed that misled parental biases increased false recognition memory during the formal interview. More than half (62%) of children reported event information that did not happen and was only suggested by their parent. Moreover, when asked to recall the parent–child conversation, children recounted little conversation content. With more direct questioning about potential topics discussed, many children reported discussing misinformation with their parents. Yet, children rarely attributed their parents as the origin of misinformation. These results are concerning given child witnesses often discuss allegations with parents as well as forensic interviewers' reliance on recognition questioning during forensic investigations involving children. Children may report nonoccurring elements of events that were only suggested by their parents. Because children's recall for parent–child conversations was limited, detecting whether children's reports may have been tainted by parental influence may be challenging in investigative contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children's relationships inform their internal working models (IWMs) of the world around them. Attachment and emotional security theory (EST) emphasize the importance of parent–child and interparental relationships, respectively, for IWM. The current study examined (a) data-driven classes in child attachment and emotional security IWM, (b) associations between IWM classes and demographic variables, maltreatment, intimate partner violence (IPV), and maternal depressive symptoms, and (c) consistency in attachment and emotional security IWM classes, including as a function of maltreatment, IPV, and maternal depressive symptoms. Participants were 234 preschool-aged children (n = 152 experienced maltreatment and n = 82 had not experienced maltreatment) and their mothers. Children participated in a narrative-based assessment of IWM. Mothers reported demographics, IPV, and maternal depressive symptoms. Latent class analyses revealed three attachment IWM classes and three emotional security IWM classes. Maltreatment was associated with lower likelihood of being in the secure attachment class and elevated likelihood of being in the insecure dysregulated attachment class. Inconsistencies in classification across attachment and emotional security IWM classes were related to maltreatment, IPV, and maternal depressive symptoms. The current study juxtaposes attachment and EST and provides insight into impacts of family adversity on children's IWM across different family relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maternal reminiscing and preschoolers' (M = 5.00 years, SD = 1.11) autobiographical memory specificity (AMS) were examined among abusive (n = 24), neglecting (n = 78), emotionally maltreating (n = 32), and demographically similar nonmaltreating families (n = 74). Neglect was negatively associated with child AMS and the quantity of maternal elaborations. In a moderated mediation model, neglect was negatively associated with the quantity of maternal elaborations, which was positively associated with AMS when mothers reminisced in a coherent and sensitive manner (i.e., affective quality). In the context of high maternal affective quality, maternal elaborative quantity accounted for reduced AMS among neglected preschoolers. The findings extend observations of reduced AMS to neglected preschoolers and inform theoretical models of autobiographical memory development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ideas of Open Dalogue share a particular affinity with the work of R.D. Laing. Since Laing did not propose a therapeutic way of working with families with a psychotic or schizophrenic member, Open Dialogue may be as close as we get to an Applied Langian approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A taboo against touch seems to pervade psychotherapy practice. However, in reviewing the literature on touch, research demonstrates that some therapists are using touch in their clinical work. Yet, no guidelines as established by the APA govern the use of touch for clinicians. This feminist rhetorical analysis elucidates the gender dynamics at play in the discourse within the psychoanalytic and humanistic frameworks and how touch functions as a feminine gendered communication style rendering it easily dismissed from the hegemonic and patriarchal voices in psychotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]