Household Chaos Moderates the Link between Maternal Attribution Bias and Parenting

Objective. Parents who attribute child misbehavior to children’s intentions and dismiss sit-uational 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 inter-nal 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