Parenting stress, negative attributions, and harsh and abusive parenting: Tests of mediation and causality

• In Event: 1-194 - The role of negative attributions of child behavior in at-risk parenting

Integrative Statement

The Social Information Processing model predicts that negative parental attributions (i.e., negative interpretations and evaluations of child behavior) increase the risk of subsequent disciplinary actions and potentially, harsh and abusive parenting (Milner, 1993, 2003). Several studies have indeed confirmed these associations. However, less is known about precursors of negative attributions. There is some evidence that parenting stress predicts negative attributions. However, evidence is not conclusive, is mostly based on studies with mothers, and most studies investigating this have been cross-sectional, so no conclusions about causality can be drawn. The current study investigated the associations between parenting stress, negative attributions and harsh and abusive parenting in a cross-sectional and experimental within-subjects design including mothers and fathers.

The sample consisted of 105 families with mothers and fathers of 1.5-6-year-old children. During home-visits parent-child dyads were filmed and parents were asked to fill out several questionnaires. Parenting stress was assessed with the Parenting Daily Hassles Scale (PDH; Crnic & Greenberg, 1990). Other possible predictors were also measured: Partner-related stress (MMQ; Crowe, 1978), childhood maltreatment (CTQ; Thombs et al., 2009) and child abuse risk (CAPI; Milner, 1986) (none of these were related to parenting). We used the computerized Parental Attributions of Child behavior Task (PACT) to assess negative attributions (Beckerman et al., 2017). The following parenting measures were used: overreactivity subscale of the Parenting Scale (Arnold et al., 1993), Conflict Tactics Scales Parent-Child (Straus et al., 1998), and observed parental discipline during a don’t touch task with their child (Verschueren et al., 2006).
In addition to measuring current parenting stress, we experimentally manipulated stress. In a counterbalanced order, parents performed the PACT once in a neutral condition and twice during different stressful conditions (a simultaneous memory task and exposure to white noise).

Concurrently, negative attributions mediated the association between parenting stress and harsh and abusive discipline for both mothers and fathers, and the association between parenting stress and supportive presence in a discipline situation for mothers (see Figure 1 for an example of the mediation model for fathers). The experimental part of the study revealed no main effects of induced stress on attributions for fathers and mothers. However, the effect of induced situational stress (the memory task) on negative parental attributions seemed more pronounced for high-risk (high partner related and parenting stress, high child abuse risk) mothers, compared to low-risk mothers (Figure 2). This may imply that only attributions of mothers with high levels of current risk are affected by induced stress.

The current experimental study revealed no conclusive evidence for the causal role of stress in predicting negative attributions, except for a subgroup of high-risk mothers. However, the study did confirm the associations between parenting stress, negative attribution, and harsh and abusive parenting for mothers and fathers with negative attributions mediating the association between stress and parenting.

Authors

• Lenneke Alink, Leiden University
  Presenting Author

• Marieke Beckerman, Leiden University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sheila van Berkel, Leiden University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Renske Huffmeijer, Leiden University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Judi Mesman, University of Leiden
  Non-Presenting Author