Child & Family Behavior Therapy

ISSN: 0731-7107 (Print) 1545-228X (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/wcfb20

Mothers’ Attributions About Child Misbehavior:

Can Situational Suggestions Change General
Perceptions?

Jennifer L. Butcher & Larissa N. Niec

To cite this article: Jennifer L. Butcher & Larissa N. Niec (2017) Mothers’ Attributions About Child
Misbehavior: Can Situational Suggestions Change General Perceptions?, Child & Family Behavior
Therapy, 39:2, 131-147, DOI: 10.1080/07317107.2017.1307680

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07317107.2017.1307680

Published online: 20 Apr 2017.

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 CHILD & FAMILY BEHAVIOR THERAPY
2017, VOL. 39, NO. 2, 131–147
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07317107.2017.1307680

Mothers’ Attributions About Child Misbehavior: Can

Situational Suggestions Change General Perceptions?
Jennifer L. Butcher, PhDa and Larissa N. Niec, PhDb
a
Department of Pediatrics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; bDepartment of
Psychology, Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, USA

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

Mothers’ attributions about children’s misbehavior were Received 15 September 2013
experimentally manipulated to examine causal relationships Revised 5 February 2016
among attributions, mood, and behavior and assess whether Accepted 20 February 2016
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suggestion can change mothers’ general perceptions. Forty KEYWORDS

mothers of children aged 33 to 71 months were primed with Attributions; behavior;
dysfunctional child-referent (child responsible) or environment- cognitions; parenting;
referent (situation caused) attributions before a parent-child priming; responsibility
interaction. Mothers in the dysfunctional child-referent condi-
tion placed greater responsibility on children, reported less
positive mood and endorsed more overly reactive discipline,
and their children displayed more negative mood and
misbehavior. The experimental manipulation also affected
mothers’ general child attributions. Understanding how
attributions form and change has implications for parenting
interventions.

Attributions—people’s assumptions about their own and others’ personalities

and the causes of events—have widespread consequences for decisions and
behavior. For instance, parent attributions about their children can have a
positive or negative influence on child behavior. Parent attributions that place
responsibility and blame for misbehavior on the child have been related to
greater child behavior problems, and parents who rely on these attributions
may have poorer retention in parenting programs and children with worse
treatment outcomes (Hoza et al., 2000; Johnston & Ohan, 2005; Miller &
Prinz, 2003). Previous research has found that experimentally changing parent
attributions about their children’s behavior results in temporary changes in
mothers’ mood and behavior and changes in child mood (Slep & O’Leary,
1998). However, less is known about how changes to parents’ attributions
in specific situations may affect their general perceptions about their children.
This study sought to replicate findings that changes to parent attributions
affect parent and child mood and behavior and to expand the research to
examine whether short-term change in attributions impact parents’ general
set of child attributions.

CONTACT Jennifer L. Butcher, PhD jennbutc@med.umich.edu University of Michigan, Department of

Pediatrics, 1924 Taubman Center, 1500 East Medical Center Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-5318, USA.
© 2017 Taylor & Francis
 132 J. L. BUTCHER AND L. N. NIEC

Attributions can be categorized in terms of locus (who or what is

responsible for the behavior), responsibility, and causality (Slep & O’Leary,
1998). When examining parent attributions, the three commonly described
loci are child-referent, parent-referent, and environment-referent (Miller,
1995; Morrissey-Kane & Prinz, 1999). Responsibility pertains to whether a
behavior is perceived as a purposeful, controllable act; whereas causality refers
to whether the reason for the behavior is stable across time and situation
(Abramson, Metalsky, & Alloy, 1988; Bradbury & Fincham, 1990; Weiner,
1993).
Theory suggests that parents form a general set of attributions about
children’s behaviors that serve as blueprints about the causes of child behavior
over time (Bugental & Happaney, 2002). These general attributions can
change based on the context of specific situations. Typically, parents view
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child misbehavior as variable and uncontrollable; they do not blame the child;
and they understand that child behavior results from multiple factors
(Bugental & Happaney, 2002; Johnston & Freeman, 1997). Although attribu-
tions vary according to the context of the situation, parents’ general set of
attributions tend to predictably favor the child across time (Bugental &
Johnston, 2000; Miller, 1995). In contrast, parents of children who express
high levels of disruptive behaviors tend to form attributions that are more
extreme and blaming of either themselves or their children. These distressed
parents are more likely to view negative child behaviors as internally
motivated and as an unchangeable part of the child’s personality (Dadds,
Mullins, McAllister, & Atkinson, 2003; Johnston & Patenaude, 1994; Stern
& Azar, 1998). These extreme dispositional attributions can be referred to
as dysfunctional child-referent attributions (e.g., “My child is always defiant
to my directions”; Johnston & Patenaude, 1994). Over time, the tendency
for parents of children with disruptive behavior problems is to form general
attributions that involve more dysfunctional child-referent attributions
regarding misbehavior (Freeman, Johnston, & Barth, 1997).
Dysfunctional child-referent attributions have been related to overly
reactive parent discipline and parent reports of negative emotions, including
anger (Slep & O’Leary, 1998; Smith & O’Leary, 1995). Parental assumptions
about locus of control have been hypothesized to mediate the relationship
between child behavior and parent behavior; such that parents with a child-
referent locus of control may be less effective at managing misbehavior
because they believe their actions are largely unrelated to their children’s
behaviors (Bugental & Shennum, 1984). Parent attributions may also impact
parents’ willingness and ability to change their parenting style. External
parental attributions that place blame on children have been associated with
(a) higher attrition rates in parent training programs (Miller & Prinz, 2003),
(b) lower acceptability of behavioral recommendations (Reimers, Wacker,
Derby, & Cooper, 1995), and (c) poorer outcome in parent training programs
 CHILD & FAMILY BEHAVIOR THERAPY 133

(Hoza et al., 2000; Munton and Antaki, 1998; Watson, 1986). These findings
suggest that a better understanding of factors influencing the malleability of
parent attributions is highly relevant to treatment success.
In an early study of the malleability of attributions, investigators elicited
either positive or negative attributions by asking parents to recall either a
satisfying or unsatisfying encounter with their children with disruptive
behavior problems (Alexander, Waldron, Barton, & Mas, 1989). Compared
to parents who recalled a negative encounter, those who recalled a satisfying
encounter demonstrated more positive interactions and reported less blame
toward their children. Additionally, once negative attributions sets were
discussed for 5 minutes, they were unresponsive to attempts to change the
attributions to be more positive.
Parent attributions have also demonstrated malleability in response to brief
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attribution-focused scripts that primed parents to develop either dysfunc-

tional child-referent or environment-referent attributions (Slep & O’Leary,
1998). Mothers primed with dysfunctional child-referent attributions
displayed more overly reactive discipline and reported feeling angrier, while
their children expressed more negative emotions than did those in the
environment-referent condition. Whether changes in situation-specific parent
attributions influence parents’ general attributions is a question yet to be
answered.
Parent attributions are typically conceived as stable. This is not good news
for clinicians seeking to change dysfunctional parent-child interactions in
families with children with disruptive behaviors. However, the parameters
that define the malleability of parent attributions have not been thoroughly
examined. Most studies have been correlational rather than experimental,
which leaves questions of causality unanswered. A need also exists to more
closely examine the impact of the situational context on parents’ attributions
(Bugental & Happaney, 2002). Finally, the literature has generally focused on
either parents’ general attributions or attributions in specific situations
without examining distinctions between the two.
A common method for measuring parents’ general attributions includes
parent-report questionnaires with attributional statements that tap parents’
overarching beliefs about their children’s behaviors. Situational attributions
are typically measured by having parents record their immediate attributions
following an interaction with their children (Bugental, Johnston, New, &
Silvester, 1998). We used a version of both methods to examine the relative
impact of general versus situational attributions. Using an experimental,
between-subjects design, we explored the malleability of parent attributions;
the influence of parent attributions on parent mood, parent behavior, and
child behavior; and the relationship between experimentally manipulated
situational attributions and parents’ general attributions. We hypothesized
that (a) mothers’ attributions regarding their children’s behaviors would be
 134 J. L. BUTCHER AND L. N. NIEC

altered by priming them with dysfunctional child-referent or environment-

referent attributions and that there would be significant differences in mother
and child mood and behavior across experimental groups, replicating Slep
and O’Leary (1998) and (b) that altering mothers’ situational attributions
would influence their general set of attributions measured before and after
the mothers were primed with the attributions.

Method
Participants
Forty-four mothers and their preschool-aged children responded to fliers in
the community recruiting them for this study. We included preschool chil-
dren because they have been shown to display discipline challenges at higher
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rates (Rutter & Garmezy, 1983).

Of the 44 families scheduled to participate, four did not attend their
appointments. This resulted in a final sample of 40 mothers and children
(20 girls). Eighty percent of the families resided in a rural/suburban Midwest-
ern setting, and 20% resided in an urban setting in the Southern United States.
Children ranged in age from 33 to 71 months (M = 54.58, SD = 12.16), and
mothers ranged in age from 26 to 59 years (M = 34.65 years, SD = 6.64).
Ninety-five percent of mothers were the biological parent of the target child
and two were biological grandmothers with guardianship. The majority of
the children were Caucasian with European ancestry (84% European
Caucasian, 8% African American, 3% Hispanic Caucasian, and 5% Multi-
racial) as were the majority of the mothers (87% European Caucasian, 5%
African American, and 8% Hispanic Caucasian). Mothers’ education levels
ranged from high school graduates to graduate degrees with an average of
15 years of education (SD = 2.22). Ninety-one percent of the mothers were
married, 3% were divorced, 3% were living with a partner, and 3% were in
a committed relationship. Child gender was constrained to be balanced across
experimental groups (10 boys and 10 girls per condition).

Procedure
The study was approved by the relevant Institutional Review Boards. Partici-
pation time averaged 110 minutes per family. After providing informed
consent, mothers completed a battery of standardized measures including a
demographic characteristics form, the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory
(ECBI; Eyberg & Pincus, 1999), the Behavior Assessment System for
Children—Parent Report Form (BASC-PRF; Reynolds & Kamphaus, 1992),
the Parent Locus of Control Scale (PLOC; Campis, Lyman, & Prentice-Dunn,
1986), and the Interactions Questionnaire (INTX; Hoza & Pelham, 1995).
After parents completed the battery, the examiner reviewed the measures in
 CHILD & FAMILY BEHAVIOR THERAPY 135

view of mothers to give the impression that the subsequent information pro-
vided was based on parents’ responses. The examiner then gave mothers
instructions for the videotaped interaction informing them that their children
were likely to misbehave during the interaction based on their responses to
the measures as well as observations of the children’s behaviors. Each mother
was randomly assigned to one of two causal attribution scripts regarding rea-
sons why her child was likely to misbehave, focusing on either child (“It seems
like s/he likes to push your buttons and be in control rather than do what you
tell him/her to do, like clean up… .”) or environmental factors (“The assess-
ment situation will challenge [child name] and make it hard for him/her to
listen to you and not bother you… .”) based on scripts used previously by Slep
and O’Leary (1998).
After receiving the attribution manipulation, each mother-child pair
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participated in a 20-minute videotaped parent-child interaction. Mothers

were instructed to interact with their children in four typical, but challenging,
situations (e.g., completing a questionnaire while having their children play
quietly and independently with a few toys, asking the child to complete diffi-
cult puzzles, having the child play with only one toy, and asking the child to
clean up without parental assistance). Mothers were asked to intervene in the
manner they would typically use at home. After the interaction, mothers
viewed two brief (15 seconds) videotaped segments depicting child non-
compliance. Segments were chosen by the experimenter during the parent-
child interaction. Mothers then rated their subjective mood (subjective anger
ratings and subjective happiness ratings), their children’s mood (child mood
ratings), and responded to prompts about their general thoughts and specific
reasons for their children’s behavior after viewing each segment.
Attribution and emotional assessments were completed after the parent-
child interaction to avoid impacting mothers’ behaviors during the interac-
tions. Previous research using videotaped segments of marital interactions
found that physiological arousal and mood ratings while watching video
segments are highly related to measures taken during actual interactions
(Gottman & Levenson, 1986). Finally, mothers completed postinteraction
general attribution measures (PLOC and INTX) and were debriefed. None
of the mothers expressed concern about the experimental manipulation or
endorsed having attributions they had not thought of previously. Mothers
were provided compensation for their time, and children were given a small
token for participation.

Parent measures
ECBI
The ECBI is a 36-item parent-report of 2- to 16-year-old children’s disruptive
behavior problems (Eyberg & Pincus, 1999). The Intensity Scale measures the
 136 J. L. BUTCHER AND L. N. NIEC

frequency of disruptive behaviors; the Problem Scale assesses parents’ percep-

tions of the number of behaviors that are problematic. Previous studies using
the ECBI have found high internal consistency and test-retest reliability
(α = .75–.98; Funderburk, Eyberg, Rich, & Behar, 2003; Robinson, Eyberg, &
Ross, 1980). ECBI scores are related to similar measures (e.g., Externalizing
Scale of the Child Behavior Checklist; r = .86, Intensity Scale; r = .85, Problem
Scale; Boggs, Eyberg, & Reynolds, 1990), and significant differences in scores
have been found between children with conduct problems and nonclinical
children (Aragona & Eyberg, 1981; Eyberg & Robinson, 1983; Eyberg & Ross,
1978).

BASC-PRF
The BASC-PRF is a 131-item, parent-report broadband measure of children’s
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behavioral and emotional functioning (Reynolds & Kamphaus, 1992). For this
study, the BASC-PRF Externalizing Problems Composite was used. Reliability
of the BASC-PRF scales has been shown for preschool age children using
internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and interrater reliability between
caregivers (.62 to .95; Reynolds & Kamphaus, 1992). The BASC-PRF is sensi-
tive to differences among various clinical groups (Merrell, 1999) and is highly
correlated with the Child Behavior Checklist (Reynolds & Kamphaus, 1992).

PLOC
The PLOC is a 46-item, parent-report measure of locus of control for child
behaviors (Campis et al., 1986). We used the Child Control of Parent’s Life
Scale as a measure of mother’s general child-referent attributions (“No matter
how hard a parent tries, some children will never learn to mind”), and the
Parental Belief in Fate/Chance Scale as a measure of mothers’ environment-
referent attributions (“Most parents don’t realize the extent to which how
their children turn out is influence by accidental happenings”). The PLOC
has adequate internal consistency and test-retest reliability (α = .66–.83;
Campis et al., 1986; Roberts, Joe, & Hallbert-Rowe, 1992) and discriminates
between parents of children with difficult behavior from those with typical
behavior (Campis et al., 1986).

INTX
The INTX is a 60-item, parent-report measure of dysfunctional attributions
based on the work of Sobol, Ashbourne, Earn, and Cunningham (1989) using
typical parent-child situations (Hoza & Pelham, 1995). The questionnaire
directs parents to rate the likelihood that their children’s compliance or non-
compliance to hypothetical scenarios is the result of child-referent, parent-
referent, or environment-referent reasons. Factor analysis of the INTX has
resulted in two factors (Chronis, Hurt, Hoza, & Pelham, 2003): Stable attribu-
tions are those behaviors attributed to general factors such as ability and
 CHILD & FAMILY BEHAVIOR THERAPY 137

qualities, and unstable attributions are those behaviors attributed to situa-

tional factors such as mood and effort. Chronis et al. (2003) suggested scoring
the INTX by grouping compliant and noncompliant scenarios according to
stability and instability; we also separated the stable and unstable attributions
according to child and parent locus. For the current study, the INTX Non-
compliant Stable Child Attribution Scale was used as a measure of mothers’
general child-referent attributions, and the Task Difficulty Scale was used as
a measure of mothers’ environment-referent attributions. Hoza et al. (2000)
found adequate internal consistency for both parents (α = .86 to .88) when
examining motivation and blame, and Hoza et al. (2000) reported that fathers’
child-referent attributions on the INTX were related to poorer child treatment
outcomes.
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Subjective anger ratings

Mothers rated the extent to which they felt angry, irritated, annoyed, and
ashamed on separate, 5-point Likert scales while watching video segments
of their children’s noncompliant behaviors. The individual Likert scales
were then combined into a single Subjective Anger Rating. Using this tech-
nique, Smith and O’Leary (1995) found that mother’s dysfunctional,
child-referent attributions accounted for a significant amount of variance in
their negative emotional arousal and overly reactive parenting, that internal
consistency for the adjectives was high (r = .90), and that scores discriminated
between parents provided with child-referent versus environment-referent
attributions.

Subjective happiness ratings

We developed a rating scale similar to the anger rating to examine mothers’
positive emotions. Mothers rated the extent to which they felt happy, pleased,
satisfied, proud, and content on separate 5-point Likert scales that were com-
bined into a single Subjective Happiness Rating. We chose these adjectives to
contrast with the subjective anger ratings adjectives.

Parents’ ratings of child’s mood and behavior

Mothers rated their child’s positive and negative mood on a 5-point Likert
scale while watching the video segments.

Coded measures
Parental Attributions Coding System (PACS)
The PACS, an attribution coding system developed by Slep (1997) based on
the Spontaneous Attribution Coding System (Holtzworth-Munroe &
Jacobson, 1984), served as a measure of mothers’ situational attributions.
Following each 15-second video segment, parents recorded attributions
 138 J. L. BUTCHER AND L. N. NIEC

following indirect (i.e., “Write down any thoughts or feelings you have
regarding the scene you just watched”) and direct (“Write down your expla-
nation for your child’s affect and behavior”) prompts.
Responses are first examined to judge whether they are attributions, and
then all attributions are categorized according to locus (i.e., mother, child,
or environment). Next, child-referent and mother-referent attributions are
rated on dimensions of causality (i.e., trait, globality, and stability) and
responsibility (i.e., control, intent, and valence of intent). Environment-
referent attributions are only rated on the causality dimension. Mothers’
attributions are finally grouped by locus and average scores are obtained
for causality and responsibility dimensions. This yields five dependent
variables (i.e., child-referent causal attributions, child-referent responsible
attributions, mother-referent causal attributions, mother-referent responsible
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attributions, and environment-referent causal attributions) for each mother.

Interrater reliability of the PACS has been reported for the presence of an
attribution (r = .82), locus classification (r = .96), and causality/responsibility
ratings (r = .90); and parents who were primed with child-responsible scripts
prior to a parent-child interaction generated more dysfunctional, child-
referent responsible attributions following the interaction (Slep & O’Leary,
1998).

Parental discipline and mood coding

Parents’ use of overly reactive and lax/permissive parenting and level of
positive and negative mood displayed during the parent-child interaction
were rated using a 7-point Likert scale (Slep and O’Leary, 1998; interrater
reliability r > .92). In this earlier study, parents provided with child-referent
attributions displayed greater amounts of overly reactive parenting during
an interaction than those provided with environment-referent attributions;
however, the parents did not differ with respect to lax parenting.

Child behavior and mood coding

The child’s behavior and mood during the parent-child interaction was coded
during each 10-second period for displaying positive and negative affect and
compliant and noncompliant behavior. Interrater reliability of this method
has been shown to be high (r = .93), and the children displayed higher levels
of negative affect when parents were given child-referent attributions versus
environment-referent attributions (Slep & O’Leary, 1998).

Results
Data were screened for normality, outliers, and influential cases prior to
analyses. Video ratings were found to be skewed, but this was expected since
the amount of negativity in the videos was generally low. The ECBI Intensity
 CHILD & FAMILY BEHAVIOR THERAPY 139

Scale and BASC Externalizing Scale were found to be not normally distributed
due to outliers. Several methods were used to identify multivariate outliers
and influential cases for the variables used in analysis of variance. Using these
methods, one potential outlying case and two potentially influential cases were
identified. When data were reanalyzed omitting these three cases, results
remained the same. In order to preserve sample size, these cases were left
in for the reported analyses.
Descriptive statistics of demographic characteristics of measures completed
before the experimental manipulation are shown in Table 1, broken down by
experimental group. According to the ECBI Intensity Scale, 21 children
(52.5%) were rated by their mothers below the 50th percentile for level of
disruptive behaviors, six children (15%) were rated between the 50th and
the 84th percentiles, and 13 children (32.5%) were rated as above the 84th per-
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centile. No significant differences were found between the child-referent and

environment-referent groups on any of the major variables.

Interrater agreement
Two raters blind to study hypotheses and experimental condition individually
coded mothers’ attributions using the PACS. Agreement was 90% for break-
ing attributions into separate units. Reliability for the presence or absence of
attributions was k = .82, and kappa for the locus of attributions was .92.
Disagreements about attributions and loci were resolved by consensus. Inter-
rater reliabilities of the dysfunctionality ratings were assessed through intra-
class correlations and ranged from .91 to .93. Dysfunctionality ratings were
averaged across raters for the analysis.
The coding of videotaped mother-child interactions was also analyzed for
interrater agreement. Thirty-three percent of the videos were assessed for
reliability by a rater blind to the study hypotheses. Reliability determined
by intraclass correlations ranged from .92 to .97 for child behavior and mood.
Reliability for mother parenting style and mood ranged from .93 to .97.

Table 1. Descriptive statistics: Demographic characteristics and baseline measures by

experimental condition.
Child-referent condition Environment-referent condition
Scale M SD Min. Max. M SD Min. Max. t(38)
Child’s age (months) 54.80 11.49 33 71 54.35 13.08 33 71 0.12
Mother’s age (years) 36.45 7.95 27 59 32.85 4.52 26 45 1.76
Mother’s education (years) 15.35 2.47 12 19 14.65 1.92 12 19 0.99
ECBI Intensity 106.05 31.91 55 198 91.10 27.55 41 143 1.59
ECBI Problem 8.95 6.19 0 23 5.15 5.81 0 21 2.00
BASC Externalizing 49.15 13.26 27 90 44.50 9.43 30 63 1.28
PLOC Child Control 14.15 16.00
INTX Stable Child Attrib. 14.88 3.12 9.33 20 14.18
PLOC Fate/Chance 23.65 4.91 17 34 24.05 5.03 14 35
INTX Task Difficulty 5.08 27 90 5.30
 140 J. L. BUTCHER AND L. N. NIEC

The impact of attributional priming on mothers’ situational attributions

Table 2 lists findings for the dysfunctionality of mothers’ situational attribu-
tions, broken down by child-referent and environment-referent conditions,
after controlling for parents’ general child-referent attributions (i.e., PLOC
Child Control of Parent’s Life and INTX Noncompliant Stable Child Attribu-
tions). The targets of our experimental manipulation included child-referent
responsible attributions, child-referent causal attributions, and environment-
referent causal attributions. Examples of child-referent attributions provided
by mothers included “My child is headstrong,” “She likes to do things her
own way,” “Stubborn,” and “Because he wanted to do it his own way, not
mine.” All mothers, regardless of their condition assignment, made child-
referent attributions. Although the number of these attributions did not differ
by experimental group, mothers in the child-referent condition were rated as
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having more dysfunctional child-referent responsible attributions than

mothers in the environment-referent group (Cohen’s d = 0.65). Thus, mothers
in the child-referent group thought that child misbehavior was more purpose-
ful and more under their child’s control than environment-referent mothers.
The experimental conditions did not differ in ratings of their dysfunctional
child-referent causal attributions suggesting that mothers in the child-referent
group did not think that children’s misbehaviors were stable across situation
or time more than environment-referent mothers.
Less than half of the sample offered environment-referent causal attribu-
tions, with significantly more mothers in the environment-referent condition

Table 2. Situational attributions and participants’ mood and behavior by experimental

condition.
Child-referent Environment-referent
condition condition
Scale n M SD n M SD t(df)
Manipulated attributions
Child-referent responsible attributions 20 3.19 0.81 20 2.70 0.69 2.06* (38)
Child-referent causal attributions 20 3.49 0.95 20 3.31 0.77 0.68 (38)
Environment-referent causal attributions 4 2.62 1.48 10 2.23 0.64 0.67 (10)
Nonmanipulated attributions
Mother-referent responsible attributions 8 3.41 1.05 5 3.37 1.40 0.07 (11)
Mother-referent causal attributions 8 2.87 1.03 5 2.25 1.35 0.93 (11)
Mood and behavior
Mother rating negative mood 20 6.08 1.58 20 5.85 1.36 0.48 (38)
Mother rating positive mood 20 16.55 3.55 20 19.75 2.67 −3.22**(38)
Mother rating child negative mood 20 2.58 0.77 20 2.03 0.94 2.03* (38)
Video rating mother negative mood 20 1.69 0.77 20 1.18 0.26 2.81**(38)
Video rating mother positive mood 20 5.18 0.74 20 5.98 0.59 −3.77**(38)
Video rating overly reactive parenting 20 1.84 0.65 20 1.21 0.28 9.94**(38)
Video rating lax parenting 20 1.63 0.88 20 1.41 0.56 1.01 (38)
Video rating child negative mood 20 12.96 9.94 20 5.65 5.38 2.89**(38)
Video rating child noncompliance 20 11.94 7.91 20 4.74 4.33 3.57**(38)
Note. *p < .05. **p < .01.
 CHILD & FAMILY BEHAVIOR THERAPY 141

(n = 10) offering these attributions compared to mothers in the child-referent

condition, n = 4; χ2 (1, N = 40) = 3.96, p < .05. Environment-referent causal
attributions offered by mothers include statements such as, “She didn’t want
to do that puzzle,” ” … unsure of the situation,” and “Was bored with the
activity.” Although the low frequency of environment-referent attributions
precludes comparing means with confidence, there was not a significant dif-
ference in the amount of these attributions or their dysfunctionality ratings
between experimental groups. That is, mothers in the environment-referent
group were more likely to make at least one environment-referent attribution,
but the total number and strength of environment-referent attributions did
not differ among the groups.
We found no significant differences between groups for attributions not
manipulated (i.e., mother-referent causal, or mother-referent responsible),
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which supports the specificity of the experimental intervention.

The impact of attributional priming on mood and behavior

As predicted, mothers in the two experimental conditions displayed different
self-reports of mood, video ratings of mood, and degrees of overly reactive
discipline (see Table 2). Mothers in the dysfunctional child-referent condition
(a) reported lower levels of positive mood following the interaction (Cohen’s
d = 1.02), (b) were independently rated as displaying less positive mood
(Cohen’s d = 1.20) and as having higher levels of negative mood (Cohen’s
d = 0.89), and (c) displayed greater amounts of overly reactive parenting
during the parent-child interaction (Cohen’s d = 1.26) compared to those in
the environment-referent condition. The groups did not differ in self reports
of negative mood.
Significant differences between experimental conditions were also observed
in the predicted direction for both parent-reported and independently
observed ratings of child mood and behavior. Compared to mothers in the
environment-referent conditions, mothers in the child-referent condition
rated their children as displaying higher levels of negative mood (Cohen’s
d = 0.91), and these children were independently rated as displaying more
negative mood and more noncompliant behavior (Cohen’s d = 1.13).

Changes in general attributions

Repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) examined
whether experimentally manipulating situational attributions resulted in
changes in mothers’ general attributions. A Group by Time repeated measures
MANOVA was conducted with child-referent general attributions (i.e., PLOC
Child Control of Parent’s Life and INTX Noncompliant Stable Child
Attributions) and environment-referent general attributions (i.e., PLOC
 142 J. L. BUTCHER AND L. N. NIEC

Table 3. Changes in general attributions by experimental condition.

Before experimental After experimental
manipulation manipulation
Scale n M SE n M SE F(1, 38)
Child-referent condition
PLOC Child Control of Parent’s Life 20 14.15 0.79 20 15.45 0.73 3.52*
Noncompliant Stable Child Attributions 20 14.88 0.71 20 16.25 0.66 6.54*
PLOC Parent Belief in Fate/Chance 20 23.65 1.11 20 24.10 1.08 0.32
INTX Task Difficulty Attribution 20 5.08 0.32 20 5.02 0.37 0.04
Environment-referent condition
PLOC Child Control of Parent’s Life 20 16.00 0.79 20 15.15 0.73 1.51
Noncompliant Stable Child Attributions 20 14.18 0.66 20 14.78 0.71 1.26
PLOC Parent Belief in Fate/Chance 20 24.05 1.11 20 27.15 1.08 15.19**
INTX Task Difficulty Attribution 20 5.30 0.32 20 6.22 0.37 7.65**
Note. *p < .05. **p < .01.
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Parental Belief in Fate/Chance and INTX Task Difficulty) as the dependent

variables.
Multivariate results were significant for the main effect of Time, F(5, 34) =
5.98, p < .01, but there was no significant main effect for Group. More
importantly, there was a significant Group by Time interaction, F(5, 34) =
2.65, p < .05, suggesting that the experimental manipulation affected parent’s
general attributions.
As expected, there were significant group changes (from before to after the
experimental manipulation) on the child-referent general attribution scales:
PLOC Child Control of Parent’s Life, F(1, 38) = 4.82, p < .05 and INTX Non-
compliant Stable Child Attributions, F(1, 38) = 6.77, p < .05. Significant group
changes over time were also seen on the environment-referent general attri-
bution scales: PLOC Parental Belief in Fate/Chance, F(1, 38) = 5.55, p < .05
and INTX Task Difficulty, F(1, 38) = 4.40, p < .05.
Pairwise comparisons were completed to examine if group changes over time
were in the expected directions (See Table 3). As expected, participants in the
child-referent condition reported significantly stronger child-referent general
attributions (PLOC Child Control of Parent’s Life, Cohen’s d = 1.71 and INTX
Noncompliant Stable Child Attributions, Cohen’s d = 1.99) following the inter-
action. However, there were no significant changes in these scales for mothers
in the environment-referent condition. Significant changes over time were seen
for mothers in the environment-referent group on the environment-referent
general attribution scales (PLOC Parent Belief in Fate/Chance, Cohen’s d = 2.83
and INTX Task Difficulty, Cohen’s d = 1.13), but no changes were seen on these
scales for mothers in the child-referent condition.

Discussion
Parent attributions about their children’s misbehaviors have been found to
play a role in parent mood and behavior and could impact success in parent
 CHILD & FAMILY BEHAVIOR THERAPY 143

training programs. However, questions remain regarding the malleability of

parent attributions and the relationship between situation-specific and general
attributions. This study sought to close some of the gaps in what is known
about how parent attributions form and whether they can be changed. We
found that feedback changed mothers’ mood and behavior, which influenced
children’s mood and behavior. Further, a simple manipulation was found to
result in changes to mothers’ general attributions regarding their children’s
misbehaviors. This suggests that mothers’ attributions regarding their
children’s misbehaviors are fairly malleable.
Consistent with previous findings, these results provide further support for
the malleability of attributions and responsiveness to the context of the situ-
ation. Specifically, mothers who were primed with child-referent explanations
for child misbehavior were more likely to spontaneously generate dysfunc-
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tional child-referent attributions following interactions with their children.

Because we controlled for mothers’ general child-referent attributions,
changes in mothers’ attributions could not be attributed solely to previously
established beliefs about child behavior.
Manipulating mothers’ situational attributions also resulted in changes in
mothers’ mood and behavior and impacted their children’s mood and beha-
viors. Significant differences were found when using both mothers’ report and
independent ratings to assess mood and behavior, lending further support
for cause and effect relationships between dysfunctional child-referent
attributions and parent and child mood and behavior. This finding supports
theoretical models that suggest parent attributions influence parent mood and
behavior, which subsequently affects child mood and behavior (Bugental &
Happaney, 2002; Johnston & Ohan, 2005; Miller, 1995; Morrissey-Kane &
Prinz, 1999).
Changes in mothers’ situational attributions also resulted in changes in
their self-reported general attributions. Similar results were seen across time
using two separate measures of child-referent general attributions (i.e., PLOC
and INTX). The pattern of results varied across experimental condition, with
mothers in the child-referent condition offering more child-referent general
attributions and mothers in the environment-referent condition offering
more environment-referent general attributions. These results provide further
support for the malleability of parents’ attributions. Although the time period
was short (i.e., approximately 90 minutes), the fact that a simple attribution
manipulation led to changes in mothers’ patterns of general attributions is
noteworthy.

Implications for parent training programs

The causal relationship between parent attributions and parenting behaviors
supports the value of addressing parent beliefs in parent training programs.
 144 J. L. BUTCHER AND L. N. NIEC

To date, attempts to add an attribution focus to parenting programs have

resulted in mixed results (Goddard & Miller, 1993; Morrissey-Kane & Prinz,
1999; Sheeber & McDevitt, 1998; Stern & Azar, 1998). It may be that
addressing parent attributions would be useful for a subpopulation of parents
of children with disruptive behaviors that are not responding to traditional
parent training approaches. Assessing attributions at the beginning of
treatment, during treatment, and at the end of treatment may provide more
insight into ways that changes to situational attributions could impact
parents’ general set of attributions. Additionally, since priming by experimen-
ters has been shown to lead to changes in attributions, therapists may success-
fully shape parents’ views of their children’s behavior by modeling adaptive
attributions. Over time, focusing on situational changes may generalize to
long-term changes in general attributions, resulting in changes in parenting
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behavior.

Limitations and future directions

Several limitations of the current study should be remedied by future research.
It would be valuable to extend these results to other demographic samples and
to include fathers in subsequent evaluations. Additionally, since this study
used a community sample, attributions may have been more easily changed
in this sample. As a result, it would be interesting to replicate this study by
comparing attributional changes in a community versus a clinical sample.
One question, in particular, must be resolved before parenting experts can
make a strong case for attribution-based interventions: how robust is the
impact of attribution manipulation over time? It would be especially valuable
to examine the relationship between the intensity of the intervention (e.g.,
number of attributional manipulations) and the length of time that changes
in general attributions are observed, along with the extent to which these attri-
butions continue to impact parent and child mood and behavior. Studies
should also focus on the relative malleability of functional versus dysfunc-
tional attributions to examine whether certain attributional sets are easier
to manipulate. Results of this study suggest that it may be easier to influence
mothers’ dysfunctional attributions, which is an area in need of further study.
Studies that continue to examine the impact of situational attributional
manipulation on general attributional change would enhance the develop-
ment of effective attributional-focused parenting programs.

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