Ontwikkelen attributies en parental self-efficacy zich anders in de kortdurende en langdurende ouder-kind conflicten voor ouders met een peuter

Abstract

Toddlerhood is characterized by high percentages of externalizing behaviour and therefore considered to be one of the most challenging periods in raising children. Toddlers are increasingly exploring, and parents will be using strategies to adjust their toddler’s behaviour. They often get into conflict because the toddler regularly resists the parent’s requests. This behaviour can create a coercive cycle, which is also referred to as a long-term conflict. Parental cognitions, including attributions and parental self-efficacy (PSE), can be seen as essential predictors in parenting behaviour and are supposed to have different outcomes for short-term and long-term conflicts. However, it is unclear how the process and duration of the conflict respond to this. This research aimed to investigate whether attributions and PSE develop differently in short-term and long-term parent-child conflicts. One hundred sixty-five highly educated parents with a toddler up to 2 years have participated in the present study, most of whom were of Dutch nationality. Dependent variables were parental self-efficacy, child-responsible attributions and parent-causal attributions. Main results provide evidence that there was a development in the parent-causal attributions and PSE for parents in the long-term conflicts and that the development trajectory for PSE differs significantly for the conditions. Implications for future research are discussed.