title: Do hostile attributions and negative affect explain the association between authoritarian beliefs and harsh parenting?
abstract: The present study examined the associations between authoritarian parenting beliefs, attributions of hostile intent, negative affect, and harsh parenting practices. General population parents (N=183; 31.1% fathers) completed self-report measures of authoritarian parenting beliefs and read vignettes describing children engaging in transgressions. Following each vignette, parents indicated the extent to which they would attribute hostile intent to the child, feel negative affect, and respond with harsh parenting practices (e.g., yelling, hitting). As hypothesized, parents who subscribed to higher levels of authoritarian beliefs attributed more hostile intent to the child and expected to feel more negative affect in response to the transgressions. In turn, higher levels of hostile attributions and negative affect were associated with increased likelihood of harsh parenting practices. Results from a path analysis revealed that the association between authoritarian parenting beliefs and harsh parenting practices was fully explained by attributions of hostile intent and negative affect.
authors.affiliation: Center for the Study of Family Violence and Sexual Assault, Northern Illinois University, United States. Electronic address: jcrouch@niu.edu.
authors.forename: Julie L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Crouch
authors.affiliation: Center for the Study of Family Violence and Sexual Assault, Northern Illinois University, United States.
authors.forename: Lauren M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Irwin
authors.affiliation: Center for the Study of Family Violence and Sexual Assault, Northern Illinois University, United States.
authors.forename: Joel S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Milner
authors.affiliation: Center for the Study of Family Violence and Sexual Assault, Northern Illinois University, United States.
authors.forename: John J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Skowronski
authors.affiliation: Center for the Study of Family Violence and Sexual Assault, Northern Illinois University, United States.
authors.forename: Ericka
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rutledge
authors.affiliation: Center for the Study of Family Violence and Sexual Assault, Northern Illinois University, United States.
authors.forename: America L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Davila
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D001290:Attitude; D001318:Authoritarianism; D002648:Child; D003068:Coercion; D005220:Fathers / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006791:Hostility; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015146:Midwestern United States; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D011678:Punishment / Q000523:psychology; D057566:Self Report
keywords: Child transgressions; Childrearing; Parenting beliefs; Vignettes