Keywords

attribution, discipline, children, behavior problems, parenting, relationship

Abstract

Extant empirical evidence suggests that multiple risk and protective factors implicated in children's development of behavior problems are intertwined. This study, therefore, investigated the relationships among parental depression and anger, attributions of control, discipline, parent-child relationship variables, and children's behavior problems. Results were based on the responses of parents (55 mothers and 13 fathers) with children in Head Start and parents (52 mothers and 4 fathers) with children in Private School settings. All parents had children who ranged in age from 3- to 8-years. Compared to Private School parents, Head Start parents had lower levels of nonviolent discipline, involvement, and autonomy granting and endorsed greater internalizing behavior problems in their children. Significant correlations were found among parent-child relationship characteristics, parental discipline practices, and child behavior problems in both samples. Regression analyses suggested that Private School parents' use of psychological aggression and autonomy granting interact in the prediction of children's internalizing behavior problems. Although Head Start parents' higher attributions of child control for failure predicted lower levels of nonviolent discipline, and Private School parents' use of psychological aggression predicted greater levels of children's externalizing behavior problems, there was no evidence of parental discipline mediating the relationship between parental attributions and children's behavior problems. These findings emphasize the importance of research involving disadvantaged and nondisadvantaged community samples in order to provide a context for understanding how parental discipline and children's behavior problems are related to parent traits and parent-child relationship characteristics.

Notes

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Graduation Date

2005

Semester

Spring

Advisor

Renk, Kimberly

Degree

Master of Science (M.S.)

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Psychology

Degree Program

Psychology

Format

application/pdf

Identifier

CFE0000529

URL

http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0000529

Language

English

Release Date

January 2015

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Access Status

Masters Thesis (Open Access)

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Psychology Commons

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