Parental Attributions, Parenting Skills, and Readiness for Treatment in Parents of Children with Disruptive Behavior

Abstract

Parents’ causal interpretations for their children’s behavior, termed parental attributions, influence parents’ participation in parent-directed treatments for children with disruptive behavior. However, it is not well known whether subtypes of attributions, such as parent-causal or child-responsible attributions, are associated with parent readiness to engage in treatment. Further, parental factors, such as parenting skills, that may account for the association between parental attributions and parent readiness for treatment have not been explored. In the present study, we used path analysis to examine the links among parent-causal and child-responsible attributions, parenting skills, and parents’ readiness for treatment in 276 primary caregivers of 6- to 12-year-old children with disruptive behavior (86.6% mothers). We found direct paths linking parent-causal attributions to more readiness for treatment, and indirect paths through positive parenting. Although we found direct paths linking child-responsible attributions to greater positive parenting, there was no indirect mediation through positive parenting to parent readiness for treatment. Findings suggest that parent-causal attributions may be particularly important in determining parent readiness for treatment, but this association may be partially accounted by parents’ self-perceived positive parenting skills. Clinical implications are discussed with regard to improving parent readiness for treatment by targeting parent-causal attributions.