Linkages among parental beliefs about development, parental attribution styles, parental patterns of information use and child development

This research study examined three research questions. First, parental beliefs about development and parental attribution styles were examined in relation to patterns of information use among parents. Second, parental beliefs about development, parental attribution styles and parental patterns of information use were linked to the child\u27s development on measures of overall development and receptive vocabulary. Finally, the constructs of parental beliefs about development were examined in relation to parental attribution styles. These relationships were examined in an effort to gain a fuller understanding of what parents think about how children develop, and how these thought processes are related to a child\u27s actual development. Sixty families with a mother, father, and three-year-old son or daughter participated in this study. The findings indicated that parental beliefs about development and parental attribution styles were related to each other and to patterns of information use, as well as to child development. A model is presented which summarizes the relationships among parental beliefs, parental attribution styles, parental patterns of information use and child development