The Importance of Parental Attributions in Families of Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity and Disruptive Behavior Disorders

Presents a social-cognitive model outlining the role of parental attributions for child behavior in parent–child interactions. Examples of studies providing evidence for the basic model are presented, with particular reference to applications of the model in families of children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and/or oppositional defiant/conduct disordered behavior. Parent or child factors that may moderate the operation of links within the model are suggested, and evidence of such moderator effects is presented. The conceptualization and measurement of parental attributions also are discussed. The limitations of the model and existing evidence, as well as recommendations for future research in this area are presented throughout the paper. The paper concludes with a summary of the clinical implications of the model and research on parental attributions with regards to improving interventions for families of children with attentional and disruptive behavior problems.     

What Role for Parental Attributions in Parenting Interventions for Child Conduct Problems? Advances from Research into Practice

The role of parental attributions in parenting interventions has been the subject of intense interest from clinicians and researchers attempting to optimise outcomes in treatments for children with conduct problems. Despite research articulating the many ways parental attributions can influence behavioural parent training (BPT) outcomes, and recognition that addressing parental attributions in treatment is one of the great challenges faced by BPT practitioners, parenting interventions generally do not provide components that explicitly target or focus on changing problematic parental attributions. In this paper, we ask ‘Should parental attributions be included into best practice interventions? If so, how can this be done in a way that improves outcomes without cluttering and complicating the parent training model?’ We review the theoretical and empirical status of our understanding of the role of parental attributions in BPT with reference to three questions: ‘do pre-treatment parental attributions uniquely predict treatment outcomes’; ‘do changes in parental attributions uniquely predict treatment outcomes’; and ‘does targeting parental attributions in BPT affect treatment outcomes’. Our review indicates that existing research supports the importance of focussing on parental attributions for some families in order to maximise treatment outcomes. However, clinical processes for doing this are yet to be identified and specified in a way that would allow for manualised replication and scrutiny in research designs. We finish with a discussion of how these clinical and research challenges could be approached.     

“What support would you find helpful?” The relationship between treatment expectations,therapeutic engagement,and clinical outcomes in parent–infant psychotherapy

The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of pretreatment expectations on clinical outcomes and engagement in Parent–Infant Psychotherapy (PIP). Sixty-one mothers who were experiencing mental health difficulties and who were receiving PIP with their young infants participated in the study. A mixed-methodology was used to examine participants’ expectations through transformation content analysis of pretreatment interviews; recurring themes were classified and quantified. Further statistical analyses explored relationships between the quantified themes of parental expectations and clinical outcomes and engagement in treatment. No significant correlation was found between expectations and engagement. One of the six clinical outcomes significantly correlated with parental expectations. Improved reflective functioning (RF) was predicted by participants describing expectations of wanting to improve their parent–infant relationship through the treatment, and expressing concerns about discussing their past experiences. These two expectations predicted improvements in RF independently and when combined. These results indicate that PIP may be more effective for some mothers than others and that assessing future clients’ expectations before beginning PIP may be beneficial.     

Mothers,Fathers, and Parental Systems: A Conceptual Model of Parental Engagement in Programmes for Child Mental Health—Connect,Attend, Participate,Enact (CAPE)

Parenting programmes are one of the best researched and most effective interventions for reducing child mental health problems. The success of such programmes, however, is largely dependent on their reach and parental engagement. Rates of parental enrolment and attendance are highly variable, and in many cases very low; this is especially true of father involvement in parenting programmes. This paper proposes a conceptual model of parental engagement in parenting programmes—the CAPE model (Connect, Attend, Participate, Enact) that builds on recent models by elaborating on the interdependent stages of engagement, and its interparental or systemic context. That is, we argue that a comprehensive model of parental engagement will best entail a process from connection to enactment of learned strategies in the child’s environment, and involve consideration of individual parents (both mothers and fathers) as well as the dynamics of the parenting team. The model provides a framework for considering parent engagement as well as associated facilitators and mechanisms of parenting change such as parenting skills, self-efficacy, attributions, and the implementation context. Empirical investigation of the CAPE model could be used to further our understanding of parental engagement, its importance for programme outcomes, and mechanisms of change. This will guide future intervention refinement and developments as well as change in clinical practice.     

Parents’ and psychotherapists’ goals prior to psychodynamic child psychotherapy

In order to explore goals of parents and psychotherapists prior to child psychotherapy, the following questions were asked: (1) How are goals for psychotherapy formulated? (2) How can similarities and differences between parents’ and psychotherapists’ goals be understood? Questionnaires regarding psychodynamic child psychotherapies (n = 33) with parallel parental work were analysed using qualitative methodology. The child psychotherapists’ goals were often connected to the intrapsychic and relational development of the child. The parental therapists formulated goals focused on providing support to parents. The parents’ goals, on the other hand, concerned to a great extent giving the child help and to a lesser degree receiving help for themselves. They expressed their expectations concerning the child’s psychological development with a more everyday use of language, often with an emphasis on general psychological wellbeing. The study also indicated that parents had limited knowledge about the therapy’s implementation and framework. Some clinical conclusions could be made. Negotiating goals prior to parental and child psychotherapy can help create realistic expectations and promote a beneficial therapy situation.     

青少年的自主期望、对父母权威的态度与亲子冲突和亲合

通过对704名城乡高一和高三年青少年的问卷调查,探讨了高中阶段青少年－父母关系、青少年的行为自主期望和对父母权威的态度的特点,以及青少年—父母关系与青少年的行为自主期望和对父母权威的态度之间的关系。结果显示,我国城乡青少年对父母权威的认同程度较高,而期望获得行为自主的年龄较晚;青少年的行为自主期望、对父母权威的态度与青少年—父母冲突与亲合在某些方面存在城乡、性别和年级差异;青少年对父母权威的认同程度越高,对与父母发生分歧的接受性越高,其与父母的关系越亲密;那些期望在较晚年龄获得行为自主的青少年,与父亲的冲突较多,但与母亲较亲密     

家长教育期望对学业倦怠的影响:家长投入的中介及家庭功能的调节

本研究以北京市2921名中小学生及其家长为调查对象,考察了家长教育期望对其子女学业倦怠的影响,以及家长投入的中介作用和家庭功能的调节作用。结果发现：（1）在控制年级、性别后,家长教育期望依然负向预测子女的学业倦怠;（2）家长投入在家长教育期望与学业倦怠之间起部分中介作用,即教育期望能够通过提升家长投入,进而降低子女的学业倦怠水平;（3）家庭功能在家长投入与学业倦怠的关系中起到调节作用,只有家庭功能良好时,家长投入才能显著降低子女的学业倦怠水平。这一结果对于家长如何科学有效地促进子女的学业发展具有启示意义。     

Perceived control,causality, expectations and help-seeking behaviour

Undergraduates recruited from an introductory psychology course who were currently not seeking professional help (n=81) were compared with a comparable sample seeking professional help at a university psychological services centre (n=53). Participants answered an assessment instrument with reference to the problem currently upsetting them most. As hypothesized, those students seeking help tended to internalize causality, report lower levels of perceived control over their problems, and consider themselves more likely to expend time and energy in resolving their problem. Contrary to expectations, the groups did not differ in optimism about problem resolution. Results from an exploratory analysis of perceptions about the nature of professional and non-professional help are also reported. The findings, consistent with previous research, underscore the importance of differentiating the constructs of locus of control, causal attributions, and perceived control in studying mediators of help-seeking behaviour.     

Parental belief and parental engagement: how do they interact?

Previous literature has shown the importance of parental engagement for children’s outcomes; a largely separate body of literature has shown that there are clear effects on children’s outcomes related to parental religion. This article is a literature review of these two fields, with the aim of relating them to each other. The article suggests two possible explanations, behavioural and economic, for the differences in outcomes related to differences in parental engagement arising from differences in religion, but incorporating knowledge from the field of parental engagement. Finally, it sets out a research agenda for the future.     

Earliest memories in Israeli kibbutz upbringing: it is parental engagement that makes a difference

Culture and parenting shape the ability to recall early childhood experiences. This research focused on the unique context of upbringing in the Israeli kibbutz and examined how cultural orientation and experiences of parental engagement in Kibbutz and non-Kibbutz settings shaped adults’ earliest memories. Participants were 108 women (study 1) and 75 women and men (study 2) who were raised in traditional kibbutz upbringing or in a non-kibbutz family setting. In addition to reporting their earliest memory and age at earliest memory, participants estimated retrospectively the amount of daily time spent in interaction with parents, caregivers, and other children during the time of earliest memory. Overall, upbringing-related variations in cultural orientation were evident in the content of memories. A prediction of later age at earliest memory due to limited opportunities for parent–child interaction characteristic of traditional kibbutz upbringing was not supported. Rather, in both studies, age at earliest memory was linked to retrospective estimation of parental engagement, after controlling for childhood ecology. Study 2 revealed also a link of age at earliest memory to retrospective estimation of involvement with non-parental caregivers. These findings are congruent with the social-interaction model’s claims about the importance of interaction with caregiving adults to autobiographical memory’s development.     

Academic Socialization Among Latino Families: Exploring the Compensatory Role of Cultural Processes

This study examines the relation of parent educational expectations, cultural socialization, and familism with academic adjustment among 150 Latino parent–adolescent dyads (81% Mexican origin; 79% were mothers). Adolescents (53% girls) responded to measures of school engagement, educational utility, parental educational expectations, cultural socialization, and familism. Results suggest that, after accounting for parents’ reported educational attainment, adolescents’ perceptions of academic and cultural socialization messages and their own endorsement of familism were uniquely related to school engagement; only parental educational expectations were uniquely related to beliefs about the utility of education. Cultural and academic socialization may thus complement each other.     

父母情感温暖对儿童青少年学校投入的影响:有调节的中介模型

研究探索了青少年自我管理能力在父母情感温暖与学校投入之间的中介作用,以及学校氛围对上述中介效应的调节作用。采用父母情感温暖量表、青少年自我管理量表、学校氛围量表和学校投入量表对1033名中小学生进行测查。结果表明:(1)父母情感温暖可以正向预测学校投入;(2)自我管理在其中起中介作用,即父母情感温暖可以通过自我管理间接影响学校投入;(3)父母情感温暖影响学校投入的有调节的中介模型成立,其中学校氛围在前半段和后半段路径中均起调节作用,但作用有所不同。     

The Influence of Parental Factors on Therapist Adherence in Multi-systemic Therapy

Therapist treatment adherence has received a great deal of attention in recent years, in part because of its relation to treatment outcomes. Although certain therapist behaviors have been found to be associated with treatment outcomes, little is known about client factors impacting on therapists’ ability to adhere to treatment protocols. In this study, we evaluated effects of parental beliefs, psychopathology, and interaction styles on therapists’ adherence to Multi-systemic Therapy (MST) principles. Eighty-two parents participating in a clinical trial of MST completed baseline measures assessing psychopathology, family functioning, and treatment expectations. Analyses indicated that parental perceptions of therapist adherence were established within the first 4 weeks of treatment, and that parental psychopathology, motivation, expectations, and child rearing practices were related to parental ratings of therapist adherence. Results were essentially unchanged when controlling for parental positive response style. Clinical and research implications of the findings are discussed.     

GENDER AND CAUSAL ATTRIBUTIONS FOR MASTERY, PERSONAL, AND INTERPERSONAL EVENTS

In two studies, achievement was conceptualized as consisting of affiliative as well as mastery events. Participants wrote about a recent achievement, provided causal attributions, and assessed the degree to which that achievement involved mastery, personal, and interpersonal themes in the first study. A second study randomly assigned participants a theme and asked them to assess the involvement of traditional correlates of achievement. Results indicated that individuals viewed achievement as consisting of mastery, personal, and interpersonal activities. These activities differed, however, in their associated pattern of correlates and attributions. Mastery events were characterized by public standards, high expectations, a process focus, completed time frame, and attributions to ability and effort. Interpersonal events were characterized by internal standards, lower expectations, an outcome focus, ongoing time frame, and attributions to luck. Characteristics reported for personal events varied as a function of methodology.     

Maternal attributions and young children's conduct problems: a longitudinal study

The association between negative maternal attributions and child conduct problems is well established in correlational studies. However, little is known about how these variables influence each other over time. The present study examined patterns of prediction over time between maternal attributions and pre‐school conduct problems. Sixty mothers and their 3‐year‐old children with a range of levels of conduct problems were interviewed when the child was just 3, and then again when the child was just 4. Childhood conduct problems were assessed using the parental account of childhood symptoms and parental attributions were assessed using a modification of Walker's Parental Attribution Questionnaire. Results indicate that even as young as age 3, child conduct problems are associated with negative maternal attributions. In longitudinal analyses, children's conduct problems at age 3 predicted mothers' attributions at age 4, but mothers' attributions did not predict children's conduct problems over the same time period. The data are consistent with the notion that negative attributions may be a result, rather than a cause, of having a difficult‐to‐manage child. This has implications for current proposed mechanisms that link maternal attributions and child conduct problems, and thus for interventions for these problems. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Career-specific parental behaviors,career exploration and career adaptability: A three-wave investigation among Chinese undergraduates

The current research examined the effects of career-specific parental behaviors (reported by parents at time 1) on Chinese university students' career exploration (reported by students at time 2) and career adaptability (reported by students at time 3). A survey study was conducted among Chinese university graduates (N = 244) and their parents (N = 244). The results supported a mediation model such that a high level of parental support and a low level of parental interference had beneficial effects on Chinese undergraduates' career exploration, which in turn positively predicted their career adaptability. Lack of parental career engagement had a direct negative effect on career adaptability. Significant interaction effects were also found among these three types of parental behaviors such that at a lower level of lack of parental career engagement, the positive effects of parental support, as well as the negative effects of interference on career exploration were stronger. The corresponding moderated mediation models were also supported. These findings carry implications for research on career construction theory and career counseling practices.     

The Role of Parental and Adolescent Attributions in Adjustment of Adolescents with Chronic Illness

Previous literature has demonstrated the separate contributions of parental attributions and adolescent attributions to psychosocial adjustment of adolescents with chronic illness. However, it is unknown whether parental attributions affect adolescents' mental health directly or indirectly by influencing the youths' attributional style. This study evaluated the direct and indirect (through adolescent attributions) effects of parental attributions on internalizing and externalizing problems of adolescents with chronic illness. Adolescents (N?=?128; M?=?14.7?years) diagnosed with cystic fibrosis or diabetes and their caregivers completed measures of attributional style and adolescent adjustment. Parents' optimistic attributions were associated with fewer adolescent internalizing and externalizing problems. These effects were partly mediated by adolescent attributions. These results suggest that targeting both adolescent and parent attributions may be important for improving adolescents' adjustment to a chronic illness.     

父母学业参与、父母学业压力与青少年早期的学业投入:有调节的中介模型

为探讨父母学业参与和学业压力与青少年早期学业投入之间的关系,考察成就目标取向的中介作用,以及学业成就水平在该中介过程中的调节作用,对2487名初一学生进行测查,结果发现：（1）父母学业参与正向预测青少年早期个体的学业投入、负向预测学业抽离,父母学业压力正向预测学业抽离;（2）掌握目标取向在父母学业参与和青少年早期的学业投入之间起正向中介作用,在父母学业参与和学业抽离间发挥负向中介作用;表现回避目标取向在父母学业压力和学业抽离间具有正向中介作用;（3）掌握目标取向的中介作用受到学业成就水平的调节。研究结果揭示了父母学业参与和学业压力对青少年早期的学业投入的共同作用,为从家庭层面提高青少年的学业投入水平提供了参考。     

Effect of actor depression on observer attributions: existence and impact of negative attributions toward the depressed

This experiment examined whether others explain the successes and failures of depressed versus nondepressed people differently and how these attributions are related to affective and behavioral reactions to a request for psychological help. Ss reported attributions about the success and failure experiences of hypothetical depressed and nondepressed people. Ss also responded to a hypothetical request for psychological help by indicating their attributions, affective reactions, willingness to help, and desire for future social contact. As hypothesized, Ss displayed more negative attributions toward depressed people. Replicating prior research, Ss responded to the depressive's request for help with mixed emotional and behavioral reactions. Path analyses revealed that attributions influenced affective reactions, which influenced willingness to help; but a more complex pattern emerged from the analysis of desire for future social contact. Results are discussed in terms of the interpersonal impact and possible causes of negative attributions about the experiences of depressed people.     

父母学业参与、父母学业压力与青少年早期的学业投入:有调节的中介模型

为探讨父母学业参与和学业压力与青少年早期学业投入之间的关系,考察成就目标取向的中介作用,以及学业成就水平在该中介过程中的调节作用,对2487名初一学生进行测查,结果发现：（1）父母学业参与正向预测青少年早期个体的学业投入、负向预测学业抽离,父母学业压力正向预测学业抽离;（2）掌握目标取向在父母学业参与和青少年早期的学业投入之间起正向中介作用,在父母学业参与和学业抽离间发挥负向中介作用;表现回避目标取向在父母学业压力和学业抽离间具有正向中介作用;（3）掌握目标取向的中介作用受到学业成就水平的调节。研究结果揭示了父母学业参与和学业压力对青少年早期的学业投入的共同作用,为从家庭层面提高青少年的学业投入水平提供了参考。