Household Chaos Moderates the Link between Maternal Attribution Bias and Parenting

SYNOPSIS

Objective. Parents who attribute child misbehavior to children's intentions and dismiss situational factors tend to show more hostility and less warmth in their parenting behavior, and are at greater risk for maltreatment. We extended this literature by investigating the role of household chaos as a moderator of the link between maternal attribution biases and parenting behaviors. Design. The current sample included 160 mothers of 3- to 7-year-old children. Mothers provided reports on their attribution biases and household chaos levels. Maternal negativity and positivity were measured using self-reports and observers' ratings. Results. The links between attribution bias and parenting behavior were stronger in more chaotic environments, with the moderating effect of chaos being particularly strong for internal attribution bias. Conclusions. The findings point to the importance of social cognitive biases in the etiology of maternal behavior in family contexts that lack order and predictability.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We thank the study participants and research staff and Emily McClelland for her assistance in the formation of this paper. This research was supported by Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development grants HD57319 and HD60110. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NICHD or National Institutes of Health.