De invloed van ouderlijke attributies door vaders en moeders op de ontwikkeling van gedragsproblemen bij peuters

Abstract

Background. Until now, few research has been conducted about parental attributions by mothers and fathers and problem behavior in toddlers. Research that has been conducted shows a relationship between the variables among children. For this reason, among others, it is important to investigate this domain among toddlers. Objective: This study examined the association between parenting attributions (devided into child- and parent responsible attributions) and problem behavior in young children. In addition, the difference between fathers and mothers in these relationships is examined. Method: 51 mothers en fathers participated in this study. The parents had at least one child between the ages of 2 and 4 years about whom they completed the questionnaire. Both parents filled out questionnaires concerning parenting attributions and problem behavior of the child. Results: The results of the paired samples t-tests indicate that a higher degree of child- and parent responsible attributions are associated with less behavioral problems in toddlers. After performing the hierarchical regression analysis, it appears that only child responsible attributions by mothers and parent responsible attributions by fathers are significantly related to less behavioral problems in toddlers. Conclusie: Child- and parent responsible attributions by both parents are related to the development of behavioral problems in toddlers. Looking at the difference between fathers and mothers in these relationships, only child-responsible attributions by mothers and parent-responsible attributions by fathers appear to cause less behavioral problems in toddlers. Future research is important to gain more insight into these relationships.