Abusive and nonabusive mothers' attributions for children's provocations /
| Main Author: | |
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| Other Authors: | , , , |
| Format: | Thesis Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
1990.
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | ProQuest, Abstract Link to OAKTrust copy |
| Abstract: | Abusive and nonabusive mothers' attributions for their children's provocations were investigated in this study. Four research hypotheses guided this study: (1) Abusive mothers, compared to nonabusive mothers, will be less accurate in identifying children's intentions when their behavior results in negative outcomes. (2) When the child's action results in a negative outcome, abusive mothers will overattribute malevolent intent on the part of the child. (3) Abusive mothers, compared to nonabusive mothers, will report relying on punitive disciplinary actions more frequently in reaction to child behaviors that result in negative outcomes. (4) Abusive and nonabusive mothers' disciplinary actions are more associated with their inferred intent than with the child's actual intent. Fifteen abusive mothers' attributions and reported disciplinary responses were investigated with vignette material and compared to those of a control group of mothers and to those of mothers of children diagnosed as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. As expected, abusive mothers are less accurate in identifying children's intentions and are more likely to infer hostile intent, compared to control mothers. Abusive mothers did not differ from mothers of ADHD children in their tendency to infer hostile intents. Abusive and control mothers did not differ in their reported use of punitive disciplinary actions, with both groups reporting less reliance on punitive actions than mothers of ADHD children. Finally, no significant results were found between reported disciplinary responses and either actual or inferred intent. The failure to find a relationship between self-reported disciplinary action and inferred intent is explained in terms of limitations of the self-report measure of disciplinary action. |
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| Item Description: | Typescript (photocopy). Vita. "Major subject: School psychology." |
| Physical Description: | viii, 162 leaves ; 29 cm |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references. |