Parental, child-centered attributions and outcome: A meta-analytic review with conceptual and methodological implications

Abstract

Eight empirical studies which bear on the relation between parents' "child-centered" attributions for children's problems and parental satisfaction or child adjustment were meta-analyzed. The parental attributional dimensions of stability and globality garnered the most support as correlates of parental satisfaction and/or children's adjustment; the dimensions of intent, selfish motivation, and blame received initial support and warrant further study. Important methodological and conceptual issues were identified and improvements are suggested. The need for prospective designs aimed at determining the causal relation, if any, between parental attributions and outcome, thorough assessment of attributions and the events which impinge upon them, detailed measurement of symptom and satisfaction variables, a wider array of child diagnoses, and establishment of parental diagnoses, are emphasized.

Care staff attributions toward self-injurious behaviour exhibited by adults with intellectual disabilities

“…Joiner & Wagner, 1996) suggested using qualitative methods to capture data that is more representative of attributions and emotional experiences.…”

Do maternal attributions play a role in the acceptability of behavioural interventions for problem behaviour in children with autism spectrum disorders?

“…Based on Weiner's (1980Weiner's ( , 1985Weiner's ( , 1986 three-dimensional approach, there are three attributional dimensions of perceived causality: locus or internality (internal-external), controllability (controllable-uncontrollable), and stability (stableunstable). Specifically, parental attributions can be divided into child-referent attributions concerning parents' attributions about the child's role in causing the behaviour, and parent-referent attributions concerning parents' attributions about their own role in causing their child's behaviour (Johnston & Freeman, 1997;Joiner & Wagner, 1996;Morrissey-Kane & Prinz, 1999). In line with these views, a conceptual framework regarding the role of parental attributions in treatment engagement proposed by Morrissey-Kane and Prinz (1999) suggests that parents would spontaneously make child-referent and parent-referent attributions for their child's problem behaviour: Child-referent attributions of high internality, high controllability, and high stability, and parent-referent attributions of low internality, low controllability, and high stability are considered to be negative parental attributions that are associated with poor parental engagement in the treatment process for their child (Morrissey-Kane & Prinz, 1999).…”

Prevalence of depression in mothers of children suffering from psychiatric and physical disorders

“…Certain personal characteristics in mothers have been identified as determinants of the psychological impact they experience. Those less skilled in controlling their children's behaviour, having less knowledge about the illness 5 , interpret the behaviour as deliberate non-compliance and are more likely to be stressed and depressed 6 . Illness characteristics in the child, add towards maternal stress and depression 7,8 .…”