title: The role of negative parental attributions in the associations between daily stressors, maltreatment history, and harsh and abusive discipline.
abstract: Negative parental attributions are related to parent and family stressors and are thought to be important predictors of subsequent disciplinary actions and, potentially, abusive parenting. We examined if negative parental attributions mediate the relation between daily stressors (i.e., low SES, parenting stress, partner-related stress) parents' own history of child maltreatment, and harsh and abusive parenting. Mothers (n=53) completed a computerized attribution task and reported on daily stressors, their own history of child maltreatment and their discipline strategies. Mothers' negative parental attributions mediated the association between parenting stress (but not the other stressors) and harsh and abusive discipline. These finding implicate that interventions to decrease (the risk of) child abuse should not only focus on reducing abuse-related stressors, but also target negative parental attributions.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Child and Family Studies, Leiden University, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Marieke
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Beckerman
authors.affiliation: Centre for Child and Family Studies, Leiden University, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Sheila R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: van Berkel
authors.affiliation: Centre for Child and Family Studies, Leiden University, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Judi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mesman
authors.affiliation: Centre for Child and Family Studies, Leiden University, The Netherlands. Electronic address: alinklra@fsw.leidenuniv.nl.
authors.forename: Lenneke R A
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Alink
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D002668:Child Rearing / Q000523:psychology*; D003469:Culture; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations / Q000523:psychology; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D012307:Risk Factors
keywords: Child abuse; Harsh discipline; Information processing; Parental attributions; Parenting stress