Does the Fading Affect Bias Vary by Memory Type and a Parent’s Risk of Physically Abusing a Child? A Replication and Extension

Abstract

Research described in the present article assessed (a) whether a fading affect bias (FAB) occurred in parent memories of a child as well as parent general personal memories and (b) whether either or both of these FAB effects was moderated by a parent’s risk of physically abusing a child. A FAB effect, unmoderated by parents’ abuse risk status, emerged for parents’ general personal memories. In contrast, the FAB was muted when high abuse risk parents remembered child-related events: High abuse risk parents seemed unable to “let go” of negative affect prompted by recall of negative events involving their children. This finding replicates and extends findings reported in prior research. However, this significant moderation effect occurred for only one event memory collection method. This methodological dependence is unusual: the FAB effect is typically impervious to methodological variations. Implications of these results, as well as suggestions for future research, are discussed.