Do Hostile Attribution Biases in Children and Parents Predict Relationally Aggressive Behavior?

Maternal and Paternal Attributions in the Prediction of Boys' Behavior Problems Across Time

“…However, only father negative attributions significantly predicted behavior problems above and beyond ADHD status and mother attributions at Time 1, and continued to predict subsequent behavior problems at Time 2 with initial levels of behavior problems also controlled. The relations of negative parental attributions to boys' behavior problems are not surprising, and replicate previous research across range of child behavior problems (e.g., Chen et al, 2009;Markel & Wiener, 2012;Werner, 2012). However, compared to the previous literature, the strength of the current study is its equal focus on fathers and mothers, and our results support the importance of father attributions, at least for sons.…”

“…Compared to mothers, fathers make unique contributions to aspects of child development such as social skills (Kaiser, McBurnett, & Pfiffner, 2011), empathy (Pleck, 1997), and adjustment in adolescence (Leidy et al, 2011). In addition, mother and father attributions for child behavior may not only be different (e.g., Chen, Seipp, & Johnston, 2008;Lansford et al, 2011) but also may be differentially associated with child outcomes (Chen, Johnston, Sheeber, & Leve, 2009;Markel & Wiener, 2012;Werner, 2012). Differential relations with mother and father attributions have been found for both internalizing and externalizing child problems.…”

“…Such attributions are associated with a range of child problems (Bugental & Johnston, 2000) and are predictive of these problems above and beyond the contributions of child characteristics (e.g., Johnston, Hommersen, & Seipp, 2009). Recent studies suggest that mother and father attributions may be differentially predictive of child problems (e.g., Werner, 2012) and in this study, we extend this previous research and investigate whether both mother and father attributions are concurrently and longitudinally associated with child behavior problems.…”

“…However, although negative mother attributions partially mediated the association between mother and daughter depressive symptoms, there was no evidence of such mediation for father attributions. Further, Werner (2012) found that more negative mother attributions were associated with higher levels of child relational aggression, but only for girls. There were no significant associations between father attributions and aggression, regardless of the child's gender.…”

Mothers' Management of Adolescent Peer Relationships: Associations With Aggressive, Prosocial, and Playful Behavior

“…Hostile attributions have been extensively linked to children's and adolescents' physical (for a meta-analysis, see Orobrio de Castro, Veerman, Koops, Bosch, & Monshouwer, 2002) and, to a lesser extent, relational (e.g., Crick, Grotpeter, & Bigbee, 2002;Godleski & Ostrov, 2010) aggression. Similarities in parents' and children's tendencies to attribute hostile or benign intent to others' behavior have also been documented, suggesting that parents may transmit belief systems and understanding of others' intent to their children (e.g., MacBrayer, Milich, & Hundley, 2003;Nelson, Mitchell, & Yang, 2008;Werner, 2012), for example, during parent-child conversations about peers. Future researchers should explore whether consulting directly affects social cognitive functioning, specifically patterns of attributions about others' intent, and whether these attributions mediate the relationship between consulting and aggression.…”