Mediating Effects Of Parents\u27 Attributions In The Relationship Between Children\u27s Temperament And Parenting Stress

To examine the relationships among children\u27s temperament, parents\u27 attributions, parenting stress, and children\u27s behavior problems, the current study investigates the responses of parents who are raising children between the ages of 3- and 6-years. Each parent completed the Dimensions of Temperament Scale-Revised for Children (Windle & Learner, 1986), the Parenting Locus of Control Scale-Short Form (Rayfield, Eyberg, Boggs, & Roberts, 1995a), the Parent Attribution Test (Bugental, 1998), the Child Trait Rating Scale (Sacco, Johnson, & Tenzer, 1993), the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form (Abidin, 1995), and the Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2000, 2001). Using correlational and regression analyses, results of this study suggest that difficult child temperament is related positively and significantly to an external locus of parental control, less positive child trait attributions, and higher levels of parenting stress, whereas easier child temperament is related to an internal locus of parental control, more positive child trait attributions, and lower levels of parenting stress. Although different patterns of findings occur for mothers and fathers, regression results indicate generally that parents\u27 attributions mediate the relationship between children\u27s temperament and parenting stress. Such findings suggest that interventions would benefit from targeting parents\u27 attributions of their children as well as the relationships among parents\u27 attributions, parenting stress, other parenting characteristics, and children\u27s behavior problems