Attribution processes in mother-adolescent conflict

Abstract

The present study aimed to determine whether negative mother and adolescent attributions about one another are associated with increased conflict levels in a heterogeneous sample, examine the possible differential predictive power of certain negative attribution types for different groups within the sample, determine whether level of negative attribution, SES, or daily stress level are significant predictors of conflict, and examine the potential mediating role of negative attributions in the relationship between SES and conflict level, as well as the relationship between and daily stress and conflict level. One hundred forty-five mother-adolescent dyads from various racial and SES backgrounds of a moderately large urban area in the southeast United States completed self-report measures of attributions associated with negative behaviors of the other, stress levels, and conflict levels. Analyses indicated that negative attributions were significantly associated with increased conflict. African American mothers presented with a nonsignificant different attribution style than all other mother groups. Mother-reported negative attributions, SES level, and mother-reported daily stress were significant predictors of both mother- and adolescent-reported conflict. Negative attributions were not found to be a mediator in the relationships between daily stress and conflict level, as well as SES level and conflict level. Clinical implications of these data are discussed.