The Self‐ and Other‐Blame Scale (SOBS). The background and presentation of a new instrument for measuring blame in families

Abstract

This article presents an account of the development and reliability of an observational instrument to measure blame: the Self-and Other-Blame Scale (SOBS). Fifty-one eating disordered patients together with eighty of their relatives were interviewed using a semi-structured family interview. Videotapes were assessed by two independent raters. Inter-rater reliability was good for both dimensions of SOBS: self-blame (SB) and other-blame (OB). One of the aims in developing the instrument was to be able to explore the relationship between self-and other-blame and criticism. Preliminary data are presented showing the distribution of SOBS scores within families rated as high or low on Expressed Emotion (EE). High EE was associated with high levels of self-blame in the parents, but not in the patients. Fathers in high EE families were more blaming of the patient than those in Low EE families but this was not true for mothers' levels of daughter blaming.

Expressed emotion in eating disorders assessed via self‐report: An examination of factors associated with expressed emotion in carers of people with anorexia nervosa in comparison to control families

“…[21][22][23][24][25] Parents of people with AN with high EE blamed themselves for the illness. 26 This guilt may be a symptom or a cause of depression and anxiety. Qualitative evidence 19 suggests that mothers caring for daughters with ED experience high distress and particularly anxiety, which typically manifest as self-blame and helplessness in response to the illness, and are accompanied by high emotional over-involvement (EOI).…”

Causal attributions during therapy I: Responsibility and blame

“…Unfortunately the picture presented by the research is somewhat confused by the failure to establish consensus on definitions. One solution is to produce a rigorous basis for direct judgement of blaming as described by Besharat et al (2001). The alternative course taken in our work has been to create a coherent set of definitions of fundamental attributional dimensions and use these for a broad investigation of causal expectations as expressed by families during therapy.…”

Predicting Psychological Ripple Effects: The Role of Cultural Identity, In‐Group/Out‐Group Identification, and Attributions of Blame in Crisis Communication

“…Blame has been studied extensively in interpersonal communication contexts, but it is also critical in relationships between stakeholders and organizations. ( 21‐23 ) Organizational blame covaries with several factors such as whether the crisis was caused by human or technical error, the reputation of the company prior to the crisis, mutability of the crisis, etc. ( 24 ) Extant data show that crises involving human error were associated with increased blame on the organization and a decrease in its reputational credibility.…”