Citation

Beckerman M, van Berkel SR, Mesman J, Alink LRA. Child Abuse Negl. 2018; 81: 249-258.

Affiliation

Institute of Education and Child Studies, Leiden University, The Netherlands.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.05.001

PMID

29763859

Abstract

The primary goal of the current study was to replicate our previous study in which was found that negative maternal attributions mediate the association between parenting stress and harsh and abusive discipline. In addition, we investigated this association in fathers, and added observational parenting data. During two home visits mothers and fathers were observed with their children (age 1.5-6.0 years), filled in questionnaires, and completed the Parental Attributions of Child behavior Task (PACT; a computerized attribution task). Similar to our previous study, negative parental attributions mediated the relation between parenting stress and self-reported harsh and abusive parenting for both mothers and fathers. For mothers, this mediation effect was also found in the relation between parenting stress and lower levels of observed supportive parenting in a challenging disciplinary task. In addition, the relation of partner-related stress and abuse risk with harsh, abusive, and (low) supportive parenting were also mediated by maternal negative attributions. When parenting stress, partner-related stress, and abuse risk were studied in one model, only parenting stress remained significant.

RESULTS are discussed in terms of the importance of targeting parental attributions for prevention and intervention purposes in families experiencing stress.

Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Child abuse; Harsh discipline; Information processing; Parental attributions; Parenting stress; Supportive parenting