| Abstract: | A study of a local chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally 111 (NAMI) suggests that parents think about the causes of their offsprings' psychiatric disabilities in terms of psychogenic, organic and moral attributions. Comparisons of retrospective and current self-reports suggest that parents' attributional processes were influenced by their organizational participation. Comparatively stronger endorsement of the organic attribution (that biochemical illness is a primary causal factor) and comparatively weaker endorsement of the psychogenic attribution (that deficits in parenting are a primary causal factor) were associated with participation. Increased comfort in parent-child relationships was also associated with participation. It was speculated that these cognitive and behavioral changes were mediated by learning a comprehensive schema of information about schizophrenia that included information about causes, symptoms and methods of treatment. |
