Predicting Inept Discipline: The Role of Parental Depressive Symptoms, Anger, and Attributions

Relations among parents' psychological difficulties (i.e., depressive symptoms, overt anger), dysfunctional attributions for child misbehavior, and inept discipline were investigated in a representative community sample of 451 mothers and 449 fathers. Depressive symptoms and anger were hypothes...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of consulting and clinical psychology 2006-06, Vol.74 (3), p.524-534
Main Authors: Leung, Debbie W, Slep, Amy M. Smith
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Anger
Attitude
Attribution
Attribution Theory
Behavior Problems
Child
Child Behavior Disorders
Child development
Child Discipline
Depression
Depression (Psychology)
Discipline
Disruptive behaviour
Female
Human
Humans
Intervention
Major Depression
Male
Mental depression
Parent Child Relationship
Parent-Child Relations
Parental Characteristics
Parenting
Parenting Skills
Parents
Parents & parenting
Parents - psychology
Path Analysis
Prediction
Psychological aspects
Psychological Patterns
Psychological problems
Symptoms (Individual Disorders)
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Summary:Relations among parents' psychological difficulties (i.e., depressive symptoms, overt anger), dysfunctional attributions for child misbehavior, and inept discipline were investigated in a representative community sample of 451 mothers and 449 fathers. Depressive symptoms and anger were hypothesized to relate to discipline via their link with parents' attributions. Path analyses revealed that depressive symptoms predicted parent-centered causal attributions (i.e., stable, global, and dispositional), which, in turn, related to laxness. Depressive symptoms also predicted child-centered responsibility attributions (i.e., controllable, intentional, and negative), which, in turn, related to overreactivity. Anger predicted overreactivity directly. The patterns of relations were similar for fathers and mothers. The importance of addressing parents' psychological difficulties and dysfunctional attributions in interventions for families with disruptive children is discussed.
ISSN:0022-006X
1939-2117
DOI:10.1037/0022-006X.74.3.524