An investigation into the nature and content of spontaneous attributions and their relationship to feelings of self-efficacy and stress in parents of individuals with intellectual disabilities who exhibit self-injurious behaviour and research portfolio

OBJECTIVES: Although self injurious behaviour (SIB) is recognised as one of the most difficult management problems in people with intellectual disabilities (ID), the way that mothers attempt to make sense of the behaviour has been largely ignored. However, in parents of other groups of offspring, attributions and cognitions have been shown to predict maternal well-being and engagement in treatment. DESIGN: A mixed methods (quantitative & qualitative) design was employed. METHODS: Using Weiner's (1980) attributional model, 13 mothers were interviewed to examine the nature and content of their views about their offsprings' SIB, using semi-structured interviews and measures of parenting self-efficacy and stress. RESULTS: The findings suggested that mothers made a diverse and complex range of attributions that were consistent with attributional dimensions of locus of cause, stability and controllability. The nature of their attributions reflected their feelings of pessimism regarding the possibility of change and their often contradictory views about causes of SIB and consequent difficulties with interventions. CONCLUSIONS: Taking account of mothers' views will better enable professionals to provide adequate support to these families