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Latina Mothers' Attributions, Emotions, and Reactions to the Problem Behaviors of their Children with Developmental Disabilities

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2000

Víctor Chavira ,
Steven R. López ,
Jan Blacher  and
Johanna Shapiro
Víctor Chavira
Affiliation:
University of California, Los Angeles, U.S.A.
Steven R. López
Affiliation:
University of California, Los Angeles, U.S.A.
Jan Blacher
Affiliation:
University of California, Riverside, U.S.A.
Johanna Shapiro
Affiliation:
University of California, Irvine, U.S.A.
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Abstract

We examined the applicability of attribution theory to mothers' perceptions and reactions to their child's problem behavior. Participants were 149 Latina mothers of children with developmental disabilities who were interviewed regarding specific incidents in which their child exhibited a behavior problem. The findings indicate that most mothers viewed their child as not being responsible for the behavior problem. Furthermore, as predicted by attribution theory, mothers who ascribed relatively high responsibility to the child were significantly more likely to report negative emotions (anger and frustration) and aggressive/harsh behavioral reactions than mothers who ascribed low responsibility. Also, mothers were more likely to ascribe high responsibility to the child when the problem was characterized as a behavioral excess than as a behavioral deficit. The results provide support for the applicability of an attributional framework and may have important implications for helping parents in addressing the problem behaviors of their children with developmental disabilities.

Keywords

AttributionemotiondisabilityLatinoparentchild
Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines , Volume 41 , Issue 2 , February 2000 , pp. 245 - 252
Copyright
© 2000 Association for Child Psychology and Psychiatry

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