Abstract
Parents’ causal interpretations for their children’s behavior, termed parental attributions, influence parents’ participation in parent-directed treatments for children with disruptive behavior. However, it is not well known whether subtypes of attributions, such as parent-causal or child-responsible attributions, are associated with parent readiness to engage in treatment. Further, parental factors, such as parenting skills, that may account for the association between parental attributions and parent readiness for treatment have not been explored. In the present study, we used path analysis to examine the links among parent-causal and child-responsible attributions, parenting skills, and parents’ readiness for treatment in 276 primary caregivers of 6- to 12-year-old children with disruptive behavior (86.6% mothers). We found direct paths linking parent-causal attributions to more readiness for treatment, and indirect paths through positive parenting. Although we found direct paths linking child-responsible attributions to greater positive parenting, there was no indirect mediation through positive parenting to parent readiness for treatment. Findings suggest that parent-causal attributions may be particularly important in determining parent readiness for treatment, but this association may be partially accounted by parents’ self-perceived positive parenting skills. Clinical implications are discussed with regard to improving parent readiness for treatment by targeting parent-causal attributions.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abraham, C., & Sheeran, P. (2003). Implications of goal theories for the theories of reasoned action and planned behaviour. Current Psychology, 22, 264–280.
Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (1977). Attitude-behavior relations: A theoretical analysis and review of empirical research. Psychological Bulletin, 84(5), 888–918.
Andrade, B. F., Browne, D. T., & Naber, A. R. (2015). Parenting skills and parent readiness for treatment are associated with child disruptive behavior and parent participation in treatment. Behavior Therapy, 46(3), 365–378. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2015.01.004.
Baden, A. D., & Howe, G. W. (1992). Mothers' attributions and expectancies regarding their conduct-disordered children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 20(5), 467–485. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00916810.
Bickett, L. R., Milich, R., & Brown, R. T. (1996). Attributional styles of aggressive boys and their mothers. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 24(4), 457–472. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01441568.
Bjorknes, R., & Manger, T. (2013). Can parent training alter parent practice and reduce conduct problems in ethnic minority children? A randomized controlled trial. Prevention Science, 14(1), 52–63. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-012-0299-9.
Bornstein, M. H., Putnick, D. L., & Suwalsky, J. T. D. (2018). Parenting cognitions -> parenting practices -> child adjustment? The standard model. Development and Psychopathology, 30(2), 399–416. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579417000931.
Brestan, E. V., Ondersma, S., Simpson, S., & Gurwitch, R. (1999). Application of stage of change theory to parenting behavior: Validating the parent readiness to change scale. Gainesville: Paper presented at the Florida conference on child Health Psychology.
Bugental, D. B., & Corpuz, R. (2019). Parental attributions. In M. H. Bornstein (Ed.), Handbook of parenting (3 ed., Vol. 3, pp. 722–761). New York: Routledge.
Bugental, D. B., & Happaney, K. (2002). Parental attributions. In M. H. Bornstein (Ed.), Handbook of parenting: Being and becoming a parent (pp. 509–535). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers.
Bugental, D. B., & Johnston, C. (2000). Parental and child cognitions in the context of the family. Annual Review of Psychology, 51(1), 315–344.
Calam, R., Bolton, C., & Roberts, J. (2002). Maternal expressed emotion, attributions and depression and entry into therapy for children with behaviour problems. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 41(2), 213–216. https://doi.org/10.1348/014466502163985.
Chacko, A., Wymbs, B. T., Rajwan, E., Wymbs, F., & Feirsen, N. (2017). Characteristics of parents of children with ADHD who never attend, drop out, and complete behavioral parent training. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 26(3), 950–960. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-016-0618-z.
Chaffin, M., Valle, L. A., Funderburk, B., Gurwitch, R., Silovsky, J., Bard, D., McCoy, C., & Kees, M. (2009). A motivational intervention can improve retention in PCIT for low-motivation child welfare clients. Child Maltreatment, 14(4), 356–368.
Charlebois, P., Vitaro, F., Normandeau, S., & Rondeau, N. (2001). Predictors of persistence in a longitudinal preventive intervention program for young disruptive boys. Prevention Science, 2(3), 133–143.
Colalillo, S., & Johnston, C. (2016). Parenting cognition and affective outcomes following parent management training: A systematic review. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 19(3), 216–235. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-016-0208-z.
Colalillo, S., Miller, N. V., & Johnston, C. (2015). Mother and father attributions for child misbehavior: Relations to child internalizing and externalizing problems. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 34(9), 788–808. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2015.34.9.788.
Conger, A. J. (1974). A revised definition for suppressor variables: A guide to their identification and interpretation. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 34(1), 35–46.
Cooke, R., Dahdah, M., Norman, P., & French, D. P. (2016). How well does the theory of planned behaviour predict alcohol consumption? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Health Psychology Review, 10(2), 148–167.
Elgar, F. J., Waschbusch, D. A., Dadds, M. R., & Sigvaldason, N. (2007). Development and validation of a short form of the Alabama parenting questionnaire. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 16(2), 243–259. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-006-9082-5.
Fabiano, G. A., Pelham, J., William, E., Waschbusch, D. A., Gnagy, E. M., Lahey, B. B., Chronis, A. M., et al. (2006). A practical measure of impairment: Psychometric properties of the impairment rating scale in samples of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and two school-based samples. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 35(3), 369–385.
Goodman, R. (2008). The extended version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire as a guide to child psychiatric caseness and consequent burden. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 40(5), 791–799.
Gross, T. J., Fleming, C. B., Mason, W. A., & Haggerty, K. P. (2017). Alabama parenting questionnaire–9: Longitudinal measurement invariance across parents and youth during the transition to high school. Assessment, 24(5), 646–659.
Harrison, M. E., McKay, M. M., & Bannon, W. M. (2004). Inner-city child mental health service use: The real question is why youth and families do not use services. Community Mental Health Journal, 40(2), 119–131.
Hautmann, C., Dose, C., Duda-Kirchhof, K., Greimel, L., Hellmich, M., Imort, S., et al. (2018). Behavioral versus nonbehavioral guided self-help for parents of children with externalizing disorders in a randomized controlled trial. Behavior Therapy, 49(6), 951–965. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beth.2018.02.002.
Hayes, A. F. (2009). Beyond baron and Kenny: Statistical mediation analysis in the new millennium. Communication Monographs, 76(4), 408–420.
Heider, F. (1944). Social perception and phenomenal causality. Psychological Review, 51(6), 358–374. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0055425.
Hooper, D., Coughlan, J., & Mullen, M. R. (2008). Structural equation modelling: Guidelines for determining model fit. Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods, 6(1), 53–60.
Hu, L., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 6(1), 1–5.
Jacobs, M., Woolfson, L. M., & Hunter, S. C. (2016). Attributions of stability, control and responsibility: How parents of children with intellectual disabilities view their child's problematic behaviour and its causes. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 29(1), 58-70. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/jar.12158
Jefferis, P. G., & Oliver, C. (2006). Associations between maternal childrearing cognitions and conduct problems in young children. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 11(1), 83–102. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359104506059125.
Johnston, C., Belschner, L., Park, J. L., Stewart, K., Noyes, A., & Schaller, M. (2017). Mothers’ implicit and explicit attitudes and attributions in relation to self-reported parenting behavior. Parenting, 17(1), 51–72. https://doi.org/10.1080/15295192.2016.1184954.
Johnston, C., & Freeman, W. (1997). Attributions for child behavior in parents of children without behavior disorders and children with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 65(4), 636–645. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.65.4.636.
Johnston, C., Hommersen, P., & Seipp, C. M. (2009). Maternal attributions and child oppositional behavior: A longitudinal study of boys with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 77(1), 189–195. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0014065.
Johnston, C., & Ohan, J. L. (2005). The importance of parental attributions in families of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity and disruptive behavior disorders. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 8(3), 167–182. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-005-6663-6.
Johnston, C., Park, J. L., & Miller, N. V. (2018). Parental cognitions: Relations to parenting and child behavior. In M. R. Sanders & A. Morawska (Eds.), Handbook of parenting and child development across the lifespan (pp. 395–414). Springer.
Johnston, C., & Patenaude, R. (1994). Parent attributions of inattentive-overactive and oppositional-defiant child behaviors. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 18(3), 261–275. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02357779.
Katzmann, J., Hautmann, C., Greimel, L., Imort, S., Pinior, J., Scholz, K., & Dopfner, M. (2017). Behavioral and nondirective guided self-help for parents of children with externalizing behavior: Mediating mechanisms in a head-to-head comparison. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 45(4), 719–730. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-016-0195-z.
Leung, D. W., & Slep, A. M. S. (2006). Predicting inept discipline: The role of parental depressive symptoms, anger, and attributions. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, (74, 3), 524–534. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.74.3.524.
Littell, J. H., & Girvin, H. (2005). Caregivers' readiness for change: Predictive validity in a child welfare sample. Child Abuse & Neglect, 29, 59–80.
Lochman, J. E., & Wells, K. C. (2003). Effectiveness of the coping power program and of classroom intervention with aggressive children: Outcomes at a 1-year follow-up. Behavior Therapy, 34, 493–515.
Maassen, G. H., & Bakker, A. B. (2001). Suppressor variables in path models: Definitions and interpretations. Sociological Methods & Research, 30(2), 241–270.
MacBrayer, E. K., Milich, R., & Hundley, M. (2003). Attributional biases in aggressive children and their mothers. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 112(4), 698–708. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.112.4.598.
Mah, J. W. T., & Johnston, C. (2008). Parental social cognitions: Considerations in the acceptability of and engagement in behavioral parent training. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 11(4), 218–236.
Morawska, A., & Sanders, M. (2006). A review of parental engagement in parenting interventions and strategies to promote it. Journal of Children's Services, 1(1), 29–40.
Morrissey-Kane, E., & Prinz, R. J. (1999). Engagement in child and adolescent treatment: The role of parental cognitions and attributions. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 2(3), 183–198. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021807106455.
Niec, L. N., Barnett, M. L., Gering, C. L., Triemstra, K., & Solomon, D. T. (2015). Differences in mothers' and fathers' readiness for change in parent training. Child & Family Behavior Therapy, 37(3), 224–235. https://doi.org/10.1080/07317107.2015.1071980.
Nix, R. L., Pinderhughes, E. E., Dodge, K. A., Bates, J. E., Pettit, G. S., & McFadyen-Ketchum, S. A. (1999). The relation between mothers' hostile attribution tendencies and children's externalizing behavior problems: The mediating role of mothers' harsh discipline practices. Child Development, 70(4), 896–909. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00065.
Nordstrom, A. H., Dumas, J. E., & Gitter, A. H. (2008). Parental attributions and perceived intervention benefits and obstacles as predictors of maternal engagement in a preventive parenting program. NHSA Dialog, 11(1), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/15240750701816439.
Park, J. L., Johnston, C., Colalillo, S., & Williamson, D. (2018). Parents’ attributions for negative and positive child behavior in relation to parenting and child problems. Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 47(sup1), S63–S75.
Pereira, A. I., & Barros, L. (2018). Parental cognitions and motivation to engage in psychological interventions: A systematic review. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 50, 347–361. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-018-0852-2
Peters, S., Calam, R., & Harrington, R. (2005). Maternal attributions and expressed emotion as predictors of attendance at parent management training. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 46(4), 436–448. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.2004.00365.x.
Prochaska, J. O., & DiClemente, C. C. (1982). Transtheoretical therapy: Toward a more integrative model of change. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice, 19(3), 276–288. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0088437.
Proctor, K. B., Brestan-Knight, E., Fan, J., & Zlomke, K. R. (2018). Assessing parental readiness to change: A psychometric evaluation of the READI-SF in a community sample. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 27(4), 1054–1064. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-017-0952-9.
Reimers, T. M., Wacker, D. P., Derby, K. M., & Cooper, L. J. (1995). Relation between parental attributions and the acceptability of behavioral treatments for their child's behavior problems. Behavioral Disorders, 20(3), 171–178.
Sawrikar, V., & Dadds, M. (2018). What role for parental attributions in parenting interventions for child conduct problems? Advances from research into practice. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 21(1), 41–56. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-017-0243-4.
Sawrikar, V., Hawes, D. J., Moul, C., & Dadds, M. R. (2018). The role of parental attributions in predicting parenting intervention outcomes in the treatment of child conduct problems. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 111, 64–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2018.10.004.
Shelton, K. K., Frick, P. J., & Wootton, J. (1996). Assessment of parenting practices in families of elementary school-age children. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 25(3), 317–329. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15374424jccp2503_8.
Slep, A. M. S., & O'Leary, S. G. (1998). The effects of maternal attributions on parenting: An experimental analysis. Journal of Family Psychology, 12(2), 234–243. https://doi.org/10.1037/0893-3200.12.2.234.
Smith, A. M., & O'Leary, S. G. (1995). Attributions and arousal as predictors of maternal discipline. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 19(4), 459–471. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02230412.
Snarr, J. D., Slep, A. M. S., & Grande, V. P. (2009). Validation of a new self-report measure of parental attributions. Psychological Assessment, 21(3), 390–401. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016331.
Snyder, J., Cramer, A., Afrank, J., & Patterson, G. R. (2005). The contributions of ineffective discipline and parental hostile attributions of child misbehavior to the development of conduct problems at home and school. Developmental Psychology, 41(1), 30–41. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.41.1.30.
Sobol, M. P., Ashbourne, D. T., Earn, B. M., & Cunningham, C. E. (1989). Parents' attributions for achieving compliance from attention-deficit-disordered children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 17(3), 359–369.
Strassberg, Z. (1995). Social information processing in compliance situations by mothers of behavior-problem boys. Child Development, 66(2), 376–389.
Sturge-Apple, M. L., Suor, J. H., & Skibo, M. A. (2014). Maternal child-centered attributions and harsh discipline: The moderating role of maternal working memory across socioeconomic contexts. Journal of Family Psychology, 28(5), 645–654. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000023.
Wade, M., & Andrade, B. F. (2015). Validation of a measure of parental readiness for treatment in a clinical sample of children with disruptive behavior. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 37(2), 184–195. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-014-9458-6
Wagner, N. J., Gueron-Sela, N., Bedford, R., & Propper, C. (2018). Maternal attributions of infant behavior and parenting in toddlerhood predict teacher-rated internalizing problems in childhood. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, No-Specified. doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2018.1477050
Wilson, C., Gardner, F., Burton, J., & Leung, S. (2006). Maternal attributions and young Children's conduct problems: A longitudinal study. Infant and Child Development, 15(2), 109–121. https://doi.org/10.1002/icd.440.
Funding
This study used data collected as part of larger treatment outcome studies funded by the Ontario Mental Health Foundation (OMHF; no grant number) and Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR; grant number 142459).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest. Consent was obtained from all participants.
Ethical Approval
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee (Centre for Addiction and Mental Health Research Ethics Board, 091/2010 and 311/2009) and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kil, H., Martini, J. & Andrade, B.F. Parental Attributions, Parenting Skills, and Readiness for Treatment in Parents of Children with Disruptive Behavior. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 42, 464–474 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-020-09801-y
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-020-09801-y