Children's intent attributions and feelings of distress: associations with maternal and paternal parenting practices.
Many studies point to the importance of social information processing mechanisms in understanding distinct child behaviors such as aggression. However, few studies have assessed whether parenting might be related to such mechanisms. This study considers how aversive forms of parenting (i.e., corporal punishment, psychological control) as well as parental warmth and responsiveness might be concurrently associated with children's hostile intent attributions and emotional distress in response to ambiguous provocation scenarios (both instrumental and relational). A sample of 219 children (101 boys, 118 girls) and their parents participated. Bivariate associations showed that parenting dimensions and child variables were significantly associated in mostly expected ways, but only in father-child relationships (especially father-son relationships). Analyses generally showed dimensions of aversive parenting by fathers to be associated with a greater tendency toward hostile attributional bias in children. Moreover, paternal warmth and responsiveness, as well as corporal punishment, were associated with less emotional distress in boys. In contrast, paternal psychological control predicted greater emotional distress in boys. The findings suggest that the tone of the father-son relationship, in particular, may help set the tone for how boys interpret their social world. Psychological control figures prominently in this regard.
Nelson
David A
DA
School of Family Life, Brigham Young University, 2102C JFSB, Provo, UT 84602, USA. david_nelson@byu.edu
Coyne
Sarah M
SM
D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005219:Father-Child Relations; D005260:Female; D006791:Hostility; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
Psychol Bull. 2002 Jul;128(4):580-9; discussion 602-11
12081082
J Abnorm Psychol. 1980 Jun;89(3):459-68
7410713
J Consult Psychol. 1965 Dec;29(6):552-7
5846126
Child Dev. 2002 Jul-Aug;73(4):1134-42
12146738
Child Dev. 2002 Nov-Dec;73(6):1830-43
12487497
J Abnorm Child Psychol. 1996 Aug;24(4):457-72
8886942
Child Dev. 1992 Dec;63(6):1321-35
1446555
Child Dev. 2006 May-Jun;77(3):554-72
16686788
Child Dev. 1980 Mar;51(1):162-70
7363732
Science. 1990 Dec 21;250(4988):1678-83
2270481
Child Dev. 1965 Jun;36:413-24
14300862
Psychol Bull. 2002 Jul;128(4):539-79
12081081
Dev Psychol. 1999 May;35(3):632-9
10380855
J Abnorm Child Psychol. 1989 Jun;17(3):277-89
2754113
Br J Dev Psychol. 2009 Sep;27(Pt 3):607-23
19994571
Child Dev. 2006 Jan-Feb;77(1):44-58
16460524
Child Dev. 1994 Aug;65(4):1111-9
7956468
Child Dev. 2000 Jan-Feb;71(1):107-18
10836564
Child Dev. 1984 Aug;55(4):1265-77
6488955
Child Dev. 1996 Dec;67(6):3296-319
9071782
Child Dev. 1996 Jun;67(3):957-73
8706538
Child Dev. 1995 Jun;66(3):710-22
7789197
Child Dev. 1990 Feb;61(1):127-37
2307034
Child Dev. 1993 Feb;64(1):124-38
8436025
Child Dev. 2005 Nov-Dec;76(6):1234-46
16274437
Child Dev. 1996 Oct;67(5):2217-26
9022239
J Abnorm Psychol. 2003 Nov;112(4):698-708
14674871
Child Dev. 2002 May-Jun;73(3):916-34
12038560
J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2008 Aug;36(6):793-806
18256923
Dev Psychol. 1998 Jul;34(4):687-97
9681260
J Abnorm Soc Psychol. 1959 Sep;59:226-35
14442320
Pers Soc Psychol Rev. 2005;9(3):212-30
16083361
J Adolesc. 2006 Apr;29(2):299-305
16112189
J Genet Psychol. 1979 Sep;135(1st Half):51-61
512643