Specificity of relations between children's control-related beliefs and internalizing and externalizing psychopathology.
The authors examined the specificity of the relation between 3 types of control-related beliefs and internalizing and externalizing psychopathology in a sample of 290 clinic-referred children aged 7 to 17 years. Self-reported beliefs about control (the capacity to cause an intended outcome), contingency (the degree to which a desired outcome can be controlled by a relevant behavior), and competence (an individual's ability to produce the relevant behavior) across 3 domains (academic, behavioral, and social) showed more specific relations with psychopathology than have been previously reported. Among children with externalizing psychopathology, internalizing psychopathology may be specifically associated with increased self-critical awareness about their conduct; externalizing psychopathology may attenuate the specific negative relation between internalizing psychopathology and control-related beliefs in the social domain.
Han
S S
SS
Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37212, USA. susan.han@vanderbilt.edu
Weisz
J R
JR
Weiss
B
B
D000293:Adolescent; D001290:Attitude; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D010552:Personality Assessment; D011599:Psychopathology; D012931:Social Environment