Parental Attributions: Why do they matter?

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

How parents interpret and explain their child’s misbehavior often predicts how they react to it. Parental attributions - interpretations on child’s behavior-, include thoughts about locus (whether the child’s undesirable behavior is caused by the parent, the child or the situation); stability (extent to which the cause would persist over time); controllability (how much control the child has over the cause) and intentionality (did the child do it on purpose). Research showed that dysfunctional parental attributions (high in intensity and rigidity) tend to increase negative child behavior (e.g., non-compliance, agitation, aggression) through negative parenting (e.g., overreactivity, laxness, inconsistency or harsh parenting).
This symposium discusses parental attributions and their impact on parenting based on innovative experimental and intervention studies. The first one consists in a lab experiment in which attributions are manipulated. It tests to what extent we can reduce dysfunctional attributions and what is their impact on parenting. The second presents a moment-to-moment study showing a cascade in which within-person changes relate to changes in attributions, which then relate to changes in parental discipline. It shows the extent to which parental cognitions fluctuate across situations, are interrelated, and are important in shaping parental discipline. The third presentation addresses the gap between the need for child mental health services and use of these services by families. This study examines whether mothers’ attributions influence professional help-seeking intentions. The overall findings suggest that parental attributions are a node in the complex parenting network related to other parental cognitions, affect and behavior.

Sub Unit

• Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Chair

• Benedicte Mouton, University of Brussels (ULB)

Discussant

• Amy Michelle Smith Slep, New York University

Individual Presentations

• When Parents Wear Dark Glasses: An Experimental Test of the Effects of Parental Attributions on Parenting - Presenting Author: Benedicte Mouton, University of Brussels (ULB); Non-Presenting Author: Joyce Weeland, Erasmus University Rotterdam; Non-Presenting Author: Patty Leijten, University of Amsterdam; Non-Presenting Author: Geertjan Overbeek, University of Amsterdam

• Challenging Behavior of Toddlers: Parental Self-Efficacy and Attributions in Shaping Maternal Disciplinary Responses - Presenting Author: Marjolein Verhoeven, Universiteit Utrecht; Non-Presenting Author: Jorg Huijding, Utrecht University

• Bridging the Gap Between Child Mental Health Need and Professional Service Utilization: Influence of Attributions - Presenting Author: Vilas Sawrikar, University of Edinburgh; Non-Presenting Author: Antonio Mendoza Diaz; Non-Presenting Author: David J Hawes, University of Sydney; Non-Presenting Author: Caroline Moul, University of Sydney; Non-Presenting Author: Lucy Tully, University of Sydney; Non-Presenting Author: Mark Dadds, University of Sydney