Peer Deviance,Parenting and Disruptive Behavior Among Young Girls

This study examined concurrent and longitudinal associations between peer deviance, parenting practices, and conduct and oppositional problems among young girls ages 7 and 8. Participants were 588 African American and European American girls who were part of a population-based study of the development of conduct problems and delinquency among girls. Affiliations with problem-prone peers were apparent among a sizeable minority of the girls, and these associations included both males and females. Although peer delinquency concurrently predicted disruptive behaviors, the gender of these peers did not contribute to girls’ behavior problems. Harsh parenting and low parental warmth showed both concurrent and prospective associations with girls’ disruptive behaviors. Similar patterns of association were seen for African American and European American girls. The findings show that peer and parent risk processes are important contributors to the early development of young girls’ conduct and oppositional behaviors. These data contribute to our understanding of girls’ aggression and antisocial behaviors and further inform our understanding of risk processes for these behaviors among young girls in particular.

Causal Attributions of Male and Female Performance by Young Children

Males and females in kindergarten and third grade predicted whether a boy or a girl would succeed on a masculine or a feminine task. Some predictions were confirmed; others were not. The children were asked to explain the winner's success by choosing among four determinants of achievement: ability, effort, task ease, and luck. For third graders, luck was more important in determining the success of an unpredicted winner than a predicted winner. For both ages, female success on a masculine task was attributed more to effort than to ability. These findings support attribution theory and indicate that differential perceptions of male and female performance exist in young children.     

Transdiagnostic Associations Among Parental Causal Locus Attributions,Child Behavior and Psychosocial Treatment Outcomes: A Systematic Review

Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review - Parents’ interpretations of the cause of their children’s behavior, i.e., parental attributions, are linked to parenting behavior and child...     

Parenting Among Hispanic and Anglo-American Mothers With Young Children

Abstract

The authors examined parenting practices and developmental expectations among 38 Hispanic and 38 Anglo-American mothers living in the United States. Mothers of children 3 to 5 years of age completed the Parent Behavior Checklist (R. A. Fox, 1994), a 100-item measure of parents' developmental expectations, discipline, and nurturing practices. In addition, the authors appraised the Hispanic mothers' acculturation and selected them for participation if their scores on an acculturation scale indicated (a) that their lifestyle was predominantly Hispanic and (b) that they had not been assimilated into the dominant culture. The 2 ethnic groups were also divided by socioeconomic status (SES). There were significant main effects for ethnicity and SES on the discipline and nurturing scores but not on the expectations scores. The Hispanic and higher SES mothers reported higher discipline and lower nurturing scores than did the Anglo-American and lower SES mothers. An unexpected finding was the tendency for higher SES Hispanic mothers to report more frequent use of discipline than the other 3 groups.     

Mental Health Utilization Among Diverse Parenting Young Couples

Mental health issues often become apparent as adolescents emerge into young adulthood. The use of mental health services is low among adolescents and young adults, and use is particularly low among minorities. In this study, we examine mental health utilization among diverse young parenting couples. The sample consisted of 296 couples. We used the social–personal framework to examine personal, family, partner relationship, and environmental predictors for using mental health services. We used the Actor–Partner Interdependence Model to assess actor and partner effects on mental health utilization. We also examined moderator effects for gender and internalizing and externalizing behaviors. We found that being female, being White, higher income, more conduct problems, and less anxious romantic attachment predicted mental health utilization. Significant moderator effects included depression × gender, depression × medical insurance, and stress × Latino. Implications for community mental health practice include conducting mental health assessments during medical visits and systematic mental health follow‐up for individuals and couples with identified mental health and support needs. Future research should include married couples and the spouse’s influence on mental health use and examine relevant parenting factors that may also predict mental health utilization among couples.     

Self-Efficacy as a Mediator of the Relationship Between Causal Attributions and Exercise Behavior

The primary purposes of this study were to examine whether the attribution–intention link was mediated by self-efficacy and whether the attribution–behavior link was mediated by self-efficacy. As a secondary purpose, we examined whether the attribution–behavior link was mediated by exercise intentions. These relationships were tested prospectively at multiple time points. Participants were 260 adult exercisers ( M age=32 years) enrolled in 12 weeks of structured exercise classes. Social cognitive measures were assessed at early and midprogram; attendance was tracked for the first and second half of the program. Hierarchical multiple regression procedures indicated support for self-efficacy as a mediator of the relationship between attributions and behavior. Secondary analyses revealed support for intention as a mediator of the attribution–behavior relationship. Finally, additive relationships in support of social cognitive theory also were detected. The attribution/self-efficacy/behavior link is important for adherence interventions and should be investigated further in both asymptomatic and symptomatic populations.     

Bullying Among Scottish Young Offenders: Inmates' Self-Reported Attitudes and Behaviour

Questionnaires were distributed to inmates in all Scottish Young Offender Institutions (YOIs) in an attempt to ascertain the nature and extent of bullying. From a total of 756 distributed, 707 were returned completed, indicating a response rate of 94%. Overall, 29% of inmates reported having been bullied during their current sentence. The most common method of bullying involved verbal threats and spreading untrue rumours. Inmates were self-identified in one of four categories, as either bully, bully and victim, neither bully nor victim, and victim. Self-reported bullies were shown to have spent a greater total amount of time in prison than self-identified victims. Self-reported victims were shown to be less likely to have a record for violent offences than other inmates. The main characteristic identified by inmates as predisposing towards being a bully was knowing a lot of inmates, while the main factor that predisposed toward being a victim was type of offence. Inmates who had spent a greater total amount of time in prison were more likely to be bullies, regardless of current prison location, prison regime, or whether currently on remand or serving a short- or long-term sentence. Results are discussed in relation to factors influencing bullying in YOIs. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of Abusive Parenting,Caretaker Arrests,and Deviant Behavior on Dating Violence Among Homeless Young Adults

Although dating violence is widespread among young adult homeless populations, its risk factors are poorly understood by scholars. To address this gap, this study uses a social learning theory to examine the effects of abusive parenting and caretaker arrests on dating violence among 172 homeless young adults. Results from path analyses revealed that child physical abuse and caretaker arrests were positively associated with engaging in a greater number of school fights, which, in turn, was strongly and positively correlated with participating in more deviant subsistence strategies (e.g., stealing) since being on the street. Young people who participated in a greater number of delinquent acts were more likely to report higher levels of dating violence. Study results highlight the extent of social learning within the lives of homeless young adults, which is evident prior to their leaving home and while they are on the street.     

Causal Attributions of Ghanaian Industrial Workers for Accident Occurrence

This study confirms the self-defensive attribution hypothesis on causal attributions of accidents in Ghana's work environment. In this investigation, Ghanaian industrial workers and their supervisors assigned causality to industrial accidents, and their responses were compared. The results showed that the victims attributed their accidents to external causes to a greater extent than did the supervisors, and to internal causes to a lesser extent than did the supervisors. This finding reflects the tendency toward self-protective bias, whereby people tend to project blame for their failures onto external circumstances.     

Gender Roles and Sexual Behavior Among Young Women

This study investigates the hypothesis thatnon-traditional gender role attitudes andmasculine gender role traits or datingbehaviors are associated with unsafe sexual behaviorssuch as having a high number of sexual partners, the non-use ofcondoms and the use of alcohol or drugs before or duringintercourse. A self-report survey was completed by 400sexually active Australian women aged between 16 and 24 who attended two metropolitan FamilyPlanning clinics in Queensland, Australia. The findingsshow partial support for the hypothesis. Women with ahigher level of 'masculine' personality traits and egalitarian gender role attitudes were morelikely to have multiple partners and to use alcohol ordrugs with their most recent non-steady partner. Themultivariate relationships between gender roles and sexual behaviors are not as extensive as wouldbe proposed by gender role theory and previousresearch.     

Reciprocal Relationships Between Parenting Behavior and Disruptive Psychopathology from Childhood Through Adolescence

Theoretical models suggest that child behaviors influence parenting behaviors, and specifically that unpleasant child behaviors coerce parents to discontinue engaging in appropriate discipline. This study examined reciprocal relationships between parenting behaviors (supervision, communication, involvement, timid discipline and harsh punishment) and child disruptive disorder symptoms (ADHD, ODD and CD) in a clinic-referred sample of 177 boys. Annual measures, including structured clinical interviews, were obtained from the beginning of the study (when boys were between the ages of 7 to 12) to age 17. Specific reciprocal influence was observed; only timid discipline predicted worsening behavior, namely ODD symptoms, and ODD symptoms predicted increases in timid discipline. Greater influence from child behaviors to parenting practices was found: ODD also predicted poorer communication and decreased involvement, and CD predicted poorer supervision. ADHD was neither predictive of, nor predicted by, parenting behaviors. The results are specifically supportive of a coercive process between child behaviors and parenting behaviors, and generally suggestive of greater influence of child behaviors on parenting behaviors than of parenting behaviors on child behaviors.     

Causal Attributions,Perceived Consequences of Unemployment,and Perceptions of Employment Prospects Among Adolescents in New Zealand

The present study investigated the causal attributions and perceived consequences of unemployment, as well as perceptions of employment prospects, among high school students in New Zealand. A sample of Form 4 (Grade 9) boys (M age 14.3 years) and girls (14.4 years) and a sample of Form 6 and 7 (Grades 11 and 12) boys (16.9 years) and girls (16.6 years) were tested. No sex or age differences were found in students' causal attributions about unemployment. Societal factors were judged as the most important cause for unemployment. Luck was considered the least important reason. Form 4 students placed a greater emphasis on economic consequences, whereas Form 6 and 7 students regarded social consequences as more important. The consistency in the present findings and those from studies in other countries suggests that cross-cultural similarities do exist in adolescents' perceptions of unemployment.     

Perspective Effects on Causal Attributions of Success and Failure

The performance attributions of actors (participants on a task or in an interaction), active observers (co-actors who make observations of the actor) and passive observers (non-participants who observe but do not interact with the actor) were compared on a task in which actors succeeded or failed after competing or working independently. Contrary to Jones and Nisbett's (1971) divergent perspectives hypothesis, the results indicated that the subjects' person attributions were influenced interactively by the actor's outcome and the subjects' perspective while their situation attributions were influenced interactively by their perspective and the nature of the task. The implications of these findings for the divergent perspectives hypothesis were discussed.     

The Romance of Leadership Scale and Causal Attributions1

Two empirical studies examined the relationship between individual‐level Romance of Leadership and causal attributions to test and extend the construct validity of the Romance of Leadership Scale. As anticipated, Romance of Leadership significantly predicted attributions to the leader, but not to the situation or the followers. The effect of leader experience on the relationship between Romance of Leadership and attributions was also examined. It was determined that individuals high in Romance of Leadership weigh information about leader experience more heavily than do others. Implications for organizations are discussed.     

The Effects of Gender and Measurement Strategy on Causal Attributions for Infertility

Investigators of causal attributions for threatening events have typically studied either male or female samples and have interchangeably used two methods of assessing attributions. To examine the effect of gender and measurement strategy on causal attributions, we interviewed 31 men and 33 women with impaired fertility. Causal attributions were measured using open-ended questions, as well as by asking participants to rate the influence of five specific causes. The results of a multitrait-multimethod matrix revealed only modest convergence between measurement methods. As predicted, both method and gender influenced causal attributions. Women were more likely to attribute the infertility to their behavior. Causal attributions were related to psychological symptoms, but differentially depending on how attributions were measured.     

Foster Care Placement,Poor Parenting,and Negative Outcomes Among Homeless Young Adults

Although homeless youth with and without foster care histories both face adverse life circumstances, little is known about how these two groups compare in terms of their early histories and whether they face similar outcomes. As such, we compared those with and without a history of foster care placement to determine if the associations between a history of poor parenting and negative outcomes including depression, delinquency, physical and sexual victimization, and substance use, are similar for these two groups. The sample consisted of 172 homeless young adults from the Midwestern United States. Multivariate results revealed that among those previously in foster care, a history of physical abuse and neglect were positively associated with more depressive symptoms whereas sexual abuse and neglect were related to delinquency and physical victimization. Additionally, lower caretaker monitoring was linked to greater delinquent participation. Among those without a history of foster care, physical abuse was related to more depressive symptoms whereas sexual abuse was positively correlated with delinquency, sexual victimization, and substance use. Furthermore, lower monitoring was related to more substance use. Our findings are discussed in terms of a social stress framework and we review the implications of foster care placement for homeless young adults.     

Attributions for Successful and Unsuccessful Health Behavior Change

In an application of Weiner's (1985) attributional theory of motivation, 466 undergraduates gave attributions for their own successful or unsuccessful health behavior changes using a retrospective incident-report questionnaire. Scores from the Causal Dimension Scale (CDS; Russell, 1982) indicated that the average attribution was internal, unstable, and controllable, and that success attributions were more stable and controllable than failure attributions. By a large margin, the most common attribution types were internal-unstable-controllable causes for unsuccessful attempts, followed by internal-stable-controllable and internal-unstable-controllable causes for successes. These findings correspond to a pattern known as personal changeability of causes, which enhances perceived control ova both positive and negative outcomes. Stable attributions were associated with maintenance of health behavior changes and with expectations that negative outcomes would continue into the future. The personal-changeability tendency was strong for change attempts involving eating, but modified by a self-serving effect for exercise and substance use and by a self-effacing effect for road safety.     

Reversal Learning Deficits in Criminal Offenders: Effects of Psychopathy,Substance use,and Childhood Maltreatment History

Deficits in reinforcement learning are presumed to underlie the impulsive and incorrigible behavior exhibited by psychopathic criminals. However, previous studies documenting reversal learning impairments in psychopathic individuals have not investigated this relationship across a continuous range of psychopathy severity, nor have they examined how reversal learning impairments relate to different psychopathic traits, such as the interpersonal-affective and lifestyle-antisocial dimensions. Furthermore, previous studies have not considered the role that childhood maltreatment and substance use may have in this specific cognitive deficit. Using a standard reversal learning task in a sample of N = 114 incarcerated male offenders, we demonstrate a significant relationship between psychopathy severity and reversal learning errors. Furthermore, we show a significant interaction between psychopathy and childhood maltreatment, but not substance use, such that individuals high in psychopathy with an extensive history of maltreatment committed the greatest number of reversal learning errors. These findings extend the current understanding of reversal learning performance among psychopathic individuals, and highlight the importance of considering childhood maltreatment when studying psychopathy.     

Conservative Ideology,Economic Conservatism,and Causal Attributions for Poverty and Wealth

The purpose of the study is to analyze the effects of different features of Conservative Ideology, measured via the Social Dominance Orientation (SDO), Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) and Economic Conservatism (EC) scales, on Internal and External casual attributions for poverty and wealth. Participants were a group of 181 university students. Results of multiple regression analyses suggested that EC influenced Internal causal attributions for poverty and wealth positively but influenced the External ones negatively. Of the other measures, only SDO showed a negative effect on External causal attributions. Theoretical and practical implications of results are discussed.