Child abuse involves more than the use of corporal punishment with a child. Investigators have measured parents' emotional reactivity and attributions in relation to aversive child behavior. A "video recall" procedure has been used for assessing affective responding of adults engaged in marital conflict and has been valid for obtaining self-reports of affect in marital interaction. Another approach to studying emotional reactivity uses imagery to recreate sensory cues that precede or accompany anger and arousal. A third variation for bridging the gap between parental recall and realistic situations precipitating abuse involves a video-simulated stress procedure allowing the examiner to record parental responses to a number of stress-inducing child situations that closely resemble abusive circumstances. In this technique, eight videotaped scenes of toddlers and preschoolers which simulate stressful childrearing situations in which the child demonstrates either excessive or deficient behavior, are shown to subjects. Subjects viewing the scenes assume the role of the hidden parent in the scene. Responses to the scenes are measured by recording the subjects' verbal and behavioral indices of emotion, coping statements, and physiological changes. Subjects also provide self-reports of negative affect, sense of control, and choice of intervention or discipline. Pilot results have shown promise in detecting differential reactions to common child-related stress. (ABL)