Depressed Mood and Child Conduct Problems

Abstract

Depressed mood and child conduct problems as predictors of mothers' attributions for their own and their children's negative experiences were examined. Eighty-two mothers of children aged 5 to 12 rated dimensions of causal attributions for hypothetical situations involving either themselves or their children. Mothers who reported higher levels of depressed mood were more likely to attribute their own negative experiences to internal, controllable, global, and stable factors. Maternal depressed mood was also associated with attributing children's negative experiences to causes within the child, and within the child's control. Mothers' perceptions of conduct problems in their children were related to attributions of globality and stability for child negative experiences. Mothers who perceived their children's negative experiences as due to internal and controllable child causes indicated more negative anticipated behavioral responses to the child concerned.