Parental Sense of Competence and Parent’s Reactions to Temper Tantrums: Pessimistic Attributions as an Explanatory Mechanism
Arantza Santoyo Delgado, Student ID: 12829544 University of Amsterdam
Abstract
This paper examines the types of attributions that parents make about their children’s behavior as
an explanatory pathway to better understanding the relationship between parental sense of competence and parents’ harsh responses to temper tantrums. It aims to answer the questions, is low parental sense of competence related to parents’ harsh reactions to temper tantrums? And,
does having a pessimistic attribution style over an optimistic attribution style explain this relation? The study sample was of 590 parents in Amsterdam with children between 11 to 71 months of age. A correlation analysis found a moderate positive correlation between pessimistic attribution style and optimistic attribution style (r = .48, p < .01). A mediation analysis was conducted following a parallel multiple mediation model with parental sense of competence as the independent variable, harsh reactions the dependent variable, pessimistic and optimistic attribution styles as parallel mediators, and the child’s age, the number of words the child knew, and the frequency of the tantrums in the last month as covariates. The results showed that a lower parental sense of competence predicted more frequent use of harsh reactions and that a
pessimistic attribution style functioned as a mediator in this relationship (a1b1 = -.07 (95% CIs
[-.11, -.04]), a1b1_cs = -.04 (95% CIsboot [-.07, -.02])). This study can be used as a starting point
for creating programs that help parents with a low parental sense of competence better deal with their child’s temper tantrums and reduce the risk of maltreatment.
Keywords: temper tantrums, parental sense of competence, harsh reactions, pessimistic attribution style, optimistic attribution style
Parental Sense of Competence and Parent’s Reactions to Temper Tantrums: Pessimistic Attributions as an Explanatory Mechanism
As toddlers become more independent, they start to engage with the environment and test the limits of their agency (Coleman & Karraker, 1998; Wakschlag et al., 2012). It is also during these increases in autonomy when they start to experience temper tantrums. Temper tantrums are outburst of negative emotions that children generally have out of frustration or anger for not being able to say what they want (O'Donnell, 2018; Potegal, Kosorok & Davidson, 2003; Sisterhen & Wy, 2019). A behavior is usually considered a temper tantrum from the first appearance of a tantrum element (such as kicking, screaming or crying) to the last of these behaviors ceasing (Potegal & Davidson, 2003; Potegal et al., 2003; Sisterhen & Wy, 2019; Wakschlag et al., 2012).
Temper tantrums are common in early childhood, and they are considered a normal part of development (Belden, Thomson & Luby, 2008; Castiglia, 1988; O'Donnell, 2018; Potegal & Davidson, 2003; Potegal et al., 2003; Sisterhen & Wy, 2019; Wakschlag et al., 2012). However, they can also be an early marker for developmental or behavioral problems (Belden et al., 2008; Castiglia, 1988; Potegal & Davidson, 2003; Sisterhen & Wy, 2019; Wakschlag et al., 2012). Parental Sense of Competence
Temper tantrums are one of the most common childhood behavioral problems reported by parents; they represent a challenge for any parent (Castiglia, 1988; Miller, 1995; Potegal & Davidson, 2003). Even experienced parents cannot stop the occasional outburst (Potegal et al., 2003). During temper tantrums, parents can become overwhelmed or anxious about their child's behavior (Belden et al., 2008; Potegal & Davidson, 2003). How affected parents become by their child's tantrums may be due to their sense of competence.
Parents experience their role as caretakers in different ways and can feel more or less capable about fulfilling this role (Beckerman, van Berkel, Mesman & Alink, 2017; Coleman & Karraker, 1998; Meunier & Roskam, 2009). Parental sense of competence is the belief parents have that they can effectively manage parenting tasks (de Haan, Prinzie & Deković, 2009). It is
very closely interrelated to parental sense of self-efficacy (de Haan et al., 2009; Slagt, Deković, de Haan, van den Akker & Prinzie, 2012; Teti & Gelfand, 1991). Parental sense of self-efficacy is a parent's perceived ability to influence the behavior and development of their child positively; it involves making judgments of how well one can execute the actions required to deal with a specific situation (Bandura, 1982; Bandura, 1989; Coleman & Karraker, 1998). In this paper, I will use both of these terms interchangeably.
According to the self-efficacy theory, sense of competence motivates and shapes behaviors (Bandura, 1982; Coleman & Karraker, 1998; de Haan et al., 2009; Teti & Gelfand, 1991). Therefore, how competent parents feel about their caretaking abilities will influence how they perform during parenting tasks (Slagt et al., 2012). Parents with high self-efficacy tend to have more positive parenting experiences (Coleman & Karraker, 1998; Coleman & Karraker, 2003; Miller, 1995; Slagt et al., 2012; Steading, 2016), including felling personal empowerment, successfully dealing with parenting tasks (Bandura, 1982; Coleman & Karraker, 1998; Jones & Prinz, 2005), and enjoying spending time with their children more (Jones & Prinz, 2005;
Steading, 2016). Moreover, studies have found that parents who feel they are more capable exert more control over their child and are a more positive influence on their child's behavior (Aunola & Nurmi, 2005; Meunier & Roskam, 2009; Swick & Hassell, 1988).
On the other hand, parents with a lower sense of self-efficacy, e.i. those who feel that they have little influence over their child's behavior may feel a sense of hopelessness or a burden
by the demands of parenthood (Brestan, Eyberg, Algina, Bennett Johnson & Boggs, 2003; Coleman & Karraker, 1998; Coleman & Karraker, 2003; de Haan et al., 2009; Jones & Prinz, 2005; Slagt et al., 2012). These parents view interactions with their children as less enjoyable, which may lead to the avoidance of disciplining tasks or result in the use of over-reactive techniques such as spanking or hitting (Coleman & Karraker, 1998; de Haan et al., 2009; Jones & Prinz, 2005; Miller, 1995; Steading, 2016). The use of over-reactive techniques can lead to abuse; this may explain why low parental sense of competence is considered a risk factor for child maltreatment (Beckerman et al., 2017; Belsky, 1984; Coleman & Karraker, 1998; Ellis & Milner, 1981; Jones & Prinz, 2005; Sawrikar & Dadds, 2018). Parents with a lower parental sense of competence may respond more aggressively because they might be making more negative judgments about their child's behavior.
Attribution Styles
The judgments parents make about their child's behavior are called attributions. Parents make attributions as they attempt to explain, evaluate, and predict their child's behavior (Miller, 1995). These judgments help the environment become more predictable by projecting the causal explanations that parents’ make of their child’s behavior (Jenson, Green, Singh, Best & Ellis, 1998; Williamson & Johnston, 2015; Wilson, Gardner, Burton & Leung, 2009).
Parents have attributional patterns or styles that determine how they interpret their child's behaviors; these styles are biased and usually distorted by emotional conditions (Gretarsson & Gelfand, 1988; Miller, 1995; Sawrikar & Dadds, 2018). These emotional biases affect how they interpret behavior causes within the three dimensions of attributions; locus (internal or external), stability (stable or unstable), and controllability (controllable or uncontrollable) (Sawrikar & Dadds, 2018; Weiner, 1985).
In general, parents tend to have an optimistic attribution style, ascribing positive behavior to internal causes and problematic behavior to external causes (Dix, Ruble & Zambarano, 1989; Dix, Ruble, Grusec & Nixon, 2016; Jenson et al., 1998; Miller, 1995; Steading, 2016). An optimistic attribution style is one in which parents see positive behavior as happening because of the child's goodness and negative behavior as rare occurrences caused by something outside the child's control (Dix et al., 1989; Dix et al., 2016). Parents may see more positive behavior as internal, stable, and controllable because it puts their kids, and parents themselves, in a more positive light (Dix et al., 2016; Sawrikar & Dadds, 2018). Another possible explanation for parents' optimistic attribution style is that adults judge children differently than they do other adults. Parents judge children less severely because, at a young age, children don't have the necessary knowledge or control over their behavior (Dix et al., 1989; Dix et al., 2016; Miller, 1995). Negative behaviors may be seen as a consequence of these limitations and therefore not the child’s fault.
Parents tend to make optimistic attributions about their child's actions, but if their sense of competence is low, they may make more pessimistic attributions. Lower parental sense of self-efficacy is related to perceiving the child's negative behaviors as intentional which is more upsetting for parents (Beckerman et al., 2017; Coleman & Karraker, 1998; Dix et al., 2016; Miller, 1995; Steading, 2016; Webster‐Stratton & Eyberg, 1982; Weiner, 1985; Williamson &
Johnston, 2015). A pessimistic attribution style is one in which parents see negative behaviors as intentional and arising because of the child's deviancy; on the other hand, positive behaviors are seen as rare occurrences (Beckerman et al., 2017; Webster‐Stratton & Eyberg, 1982; Weiner,
It may be that attribution style can help further explain the connection between low parental sense of self-efficacy and maltreatment – parents with a lower parental sense of
competence tend to have a pessimistic attribution style, and parents with a pessimistic attribution style tend to react more harshly to temper tantrums (Coleman & Karraker, 1998; Jones & Prinz, 2005). However, research has not adequately explained why this association between low parental sense of competence and harsh reactions occurs and if attribution styles play any role. To address this gap, I will focus on the if and how attribution styles explain the association found by other researchers between parental sense of competence and parents' reactions to temper tantrums; Figure 1 illustrates the hypothesis model about the associations between these factors.
Figure 1. Hypothesized mediator model. Pessimistic attribution style and optimistic attribution style are parallel mediators, they mediate the connection between parental sense of competence and harsh reactions, but they do not influence each other.
How parents respond to temper tantrums can impact the development of the child, for better or worse. How parents react and discipline their children affects that child's development, their self-perception and prosocial behavior (Colalillo, Miller & Johnston, 2015; Coleman &
Parental sense
of competence reactions Harsh
Optimistic attribution style
Pessimistic attribution style
Karraker, 1998; Coleman & Karraker, 2003; Gretarsson & Gelfand, 1988; Meunier & Roskam, 2009; Slagt et al., 2012; Wakschlag et al., 2012; Wilson et al., 2009). Thus, it is crucial to understand the relationship between parental sense of competence, temper tantrums, and
attribution style. To my knowledge, this would be the first study to focus on attribution styles as mediators in the relationship between parental sense of competence and parents’ harsh reactions to temper tantrums. By examining the relationship between these factors, this study can help clarify how parents can make the most positive influence on their children and their
development; and how they can deal with temper tantrums effectively. It can also help gain more in-depth knowledge about what kind of programs or interventions could help reduce
maltreatment and abuse.
With this study, I tried to answer the questions: Is low parental sense of competence related to parents' harsh reactions to temper tantrums? And, does having a pessimistic attribution style over an optimistic attribution style explain this relation? Based on the information
presented above, I hypothesized that parents with a lower parental sense of competence would make use of harsh reactions more often. I proposed that this was due to these parents having a pessimistic attribution style over an optimistic attribution style, in which they assigned internal, stable, and controllable causes to the tantrums.
Method
Participant Selection
Bachelor students in Amsterdam recruited parents with children between one and five years of age for a study on temper tantrums. The recruitment took place between February and June 2016, then later in April and May 2017. Students recruited parents through online parenting forums, Facebook, and face-to-face recruiting. The parents who participated filled out a general
questionnaire regarding: temper tantrums and temperament of the child, parents’ reactions to temper tantrums, personality, and parental sense of competence. If parents had more than one child, they had to answer all questions with only one child in mind. Parents who participated did not receive compensation, except for the chance to win a gift certificate of 50 euros.
One-thousand-one-hundred-and-seventy parents filled out the initial questionnaire — however, not all cases where included; in the end, the final sample size was of five-hundred-and-ninety parents. This smaller sample size was the result of only selecting cases that provided data for the variables being used in this study. Figure 2 shows the flow of participant selection.
Only parents who consented to the use of their data were considered for the final sample. Parents who reported that their child had never had a tantrum were also excluded. Likewise, parents that did not complete the questionnaire (39.1%); the final sample size was 590.
Of the 590 parents, 567 were mothers, and only 23 were fathers. The mean age was 33.33 years (SD = 4.54; Range = 21 to 51 years). The majority of parents reported being married (61.7%), followed by cohabitating (31.0%). The highest level of education attained by most parents was that of university of applied sciences (42.5%), followed by university (30.5%). As for the children in the sample, 314 were boys, and 276 were girls. The mean age was 36.02 months or 3 years (SD = 13.45; Range = 11 to 71 months).
Figure 2. Flow from the original questionnaire sample to the final sample for this study.
The original questionnaire sample and the final sample differed in some demographic characteristics. I ran an independent sample t-test and chi-square tests to assess the differences in means between the two samples. The children in the final sample were older than the ones in the original sample (F (885, 521.49) = 11.00, p < .001). Associated with this, the number of words the children knew also differed (F (897, 524.06) = 37.37, p < .001), with the children in the final sample knowing more words than those in the original. The parents in the two samples also differed in some characteristics. The original sample had a higher percentage of fathers (8.4%) than the final sample (3.9%) (χ2 (1) = 8.03 , p < .01). Additionally, the parents in the original sample reported higher parental sense of competence (F (706, 241.15) = 18.58, p < .001); but they also reported resorting to harsh reactions more frequently than the final sample (F (651, 69.93) = 11.64, p < .001).
Filled out initial questionnaire, n = 1170 (February and June 2016
&
April and May 2017)
Excluded n = 122
Responded no to ‘has your child ever had a temper tantrum?’
Excluded n = 458
Did not complete the questionnaire (missing information)
Measures & Instruments
Parental sense of competence. Parental sense of competence was measured using a 13-item scale from the Parenting Stress Index (PSI) (Abidin, 2012). The PSI is one of the most widely used instruments to identify stressful aspects of parent-child interactions (American Psychology Association, 2020). This scale has been found to be internally consistent and correlated with other measures of parent psychopathology and observed parent and child behavior (Haskett, Ahern, Ward & Allaire, 2006). Parents were presented with 13 statements relating to parental sense of competence and had to select from a 6 point scale ranging
from completely disagree (1) to completely agree (6) how much they agreed with each statement. I obtained a single measure of parental sense of competence per parent by calculating the mean score of all items. In terms of reliability, this scale had a Cronbach's alpha of 0.85, which indicated high internal consistency (Goforth, 2015; Taber, 2018).
Tantrum cause (attributions). Attribution styles are based on the causes parents assign to their child's temper tantrums. What parents think is the cause for their child's tantrum allows others to know what attributions they are making about their child's behavior. The items in these scales were based on Van Leeuwen et al. "Vragenlijst Woedenbuinen bij Kinderen -
Ouderversie" (Tantrums in Children-Parent Version) (2007); a Duch language scale developed in Belgium. This scale measures behavioral and emotional problems in young children. Parents were presented with 11 possible causes for temper tantrums and had to select how often they thought these were the cause for their child's tantrum from a 5 point scale ranging from not at all (1) to (almost) every day (5). The items most representative of each parenting attribution style were selected and grouped; I obtained the mean score for each cluster. The causes selected for the pessimistic attribution style were those that were considered internal and controllable: 'My
child was not allowed to do something', 'My child did not want to do what he/she was told', 'My child did not want to be helped', 'My child had to stop an activity'. The causes selected for the optimistic attribution style were external and uncontrollable: 'My child was hungry', 'My child was tired', 'My child was bored', 'My child did not feel well'. These new scales had a Cronbach's alpha of 0.60 for optimistic attribution style, and 0.61 for pessimistic attribution style, indicating sufficient reliability and internal consistency (Goforth, 2015; Taber, 2018).
Tantrum reactions. Similar to the scales for attribution styles, the items used for tantrum reactions were based on Van Leeuwen et al. "Vragenlijst Woedenbuinen bij Kinderen -
Ouderversie" (Tantrums in Children-Parent Version) (2007). Parents were presented with 11 possible responses to temper tantrums and had to indicate on a 7 point scale how often they reacted that way to their child's tantrums; the scale ranged from never (1) to always (7). As with the attribution style, I categorized the reactions to tantrums into different groups. Those that involved some form of punishment or blame, and are usually associated with harsh parenting I categorized as harsh reactions; these were the only ones included in the study. The reactions included were: 'I sent my child to their room/corner/time-out', 'I became angry with my child', 'I punished my child', 'I grabbed my child', 'I spoke sternly to my child'. I obtain a single measure of harsh reactions per parent by calculating the mean score for all items in the category. This scale had a Cronbach's alpha of 0.77, indicating satisfactory reliability and internal consistency (Goforth, 2015; Taber, 2018).
Covariates. Covariates are variables that are controlled for in order to avoid them from influencing the dependent variable (Goss-Sampson, 2019) or any of the other variables being studied. I decided to control for the child's age since parents judge kids differently from adults because of their limited self-control due to their age (Dix et al., 1989; Dix et al., 2016; Miller,
1995). However, this changes as children get older and gain more knowledge and control over their emotions (Colalillo et al., 2015; Gretarsson & Gelfand, 1988; Sawrikar & Dadds, 2018). Therefore, parents react more harshly to older children's tantrums; since they should be able to better control their emotions (Colalillo et al., 2015; Gretarsson & Gelfand, 1988).
Similarly, the number of words the child knows may influence the reactions parents have about their child's tantrums. Temper tantrums are often the result of children not being able to communicate successfully (O'Donnell, 2018; Potegal & Davidson, 2003; Sisterhen & Wy, 2019). It is assumed that if kids know more words, then they can better communicate and express what they want or what is bothering them. Therefore, the number of words children know may affect if parents judgment the tantrum as necessary or not. Lastly, tantrum frequency in the last month was selected because if parents repeatedly have to deal with their child's tantrums (i.e., the child has multiple tantrums per month), then parental sense of competence could decrease (Beckerman et al., 2017; Brestan et al., 2003). Parents may also become more aware of their child's deviancy, making them react more harshly to the tantrums (Gretarsson & Gelfand,1988).
Data Analyses
I carried out a mediation analysis using Andrew F. Hayes' PROCESS macro (v.3.4.1) for IBM SPSS (version 26). I selected the parallel multiple mediator model - parental sense of competence was the independent variable, harsh reactions the dependent variable, pessimistic and optimistic attribution styles the parallel mediators, and the child's age, the number of words the child knew, and the frequency of the tantrums in the last month the covariates. I also ran a correlation analysis to test how strongly related all these different variables were.
Table 1 shows the descriptive statistics for all variables used in the mediation model and the results from the correlation analysis.
The Pearson correlations between most variables were significant at the .01 level. However, most of these correlations were small (.1 ≤ r ≥ .3), only two were moderate (.4 ≤ r ≥ .7), and none were large (Goss-Sampson, 2019). The moderate correlations were those found between pessimistic attribution style and optimistic attribution style, and between the covariates age of the child and number of words the child knew. The correlation between the two covariates was not surprising since children’s vocabulary increases as they get older. The association
between attribution styles was positive, meaning that as pessimistic attributions increased, so did Table 1
Descriptive Statistics and Correlation Analysis Results Variables (N = 590) M (SD) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1. Harsh reactions 2.26 (1.01) - -.29** .34** .24** .29** .19** .17** 2. Parental sense of competence 5.02 (0.65) - -.24 ** -.28** .00 .05 -.28** 3. Pessimistic attribution style 3.56 (1.11) - .48 ** .05 .15** .27** 4. Optimistic attribution style 2.71 (0.98) - .03 .12 ** .25** 5. Age of the
child (in months) 36.02 (13.45) - .56
** -.20**
6. Number of words 2.78 (0.44) - -.10*
7. Temper tantrum
frequency 2.83 (1.14) -
Note. N = sample size, M = mean, SD = standard deviation, p = Pearson correlation - a negative number means that as one variable increases the other decreases, significant correlation at the *p < .05 level (2-tailed), and the **p < .01 level (2-tailed).
optimistic attributions. This result was surprising because it would have been expected that as one attribution style increases, the other decreases.
Mediation Analysis
Figure 3 shows the results of the mediation analysis.
Figure 3. Unstandardized results from the mediation analysis. Pathway a1b1 is the specific
indirect effect of pessimistic attribution style on harsh reactions. Pathway a2b2 is the specific
indirect effect of optimistic attribution style on harsh reactions. Pathway c’ is the direct effect of parental sense of competence on harsh reactions, while pathway c is the total effect of parental sense of competence on harsh reactions. The first number is the regression coefficient, and between brackets is the standard error.
Parental sense
of competence
Harsh
reactions
Optimistic
attribution style
Pessimistic
attribution style
c’= -.30 (.06), p < .001 Covariates: Age of the child Number of words Tantrum frequencyPathways a1 and a2 represent the effect of parental sense of competence on both
attribution styles. The effect of parental sense of competence on pessimistic attribution style (a1)
was negative; as hypothesized, parents with a higher parental sense of competence were less likely to make pessimistic attributions. Parental sense of competence and the covariates, except for the age of the child, explained thirteen percent of the variance in pessimistic attribution style (R2 = .13, F (4, 585) = 22.65, p < .001), the result for the age of the child were not statistically significant. The effect of parental sense of competence on optimistic attribution style (a2) was
negative. Parental sense of competence and the covariates, except for the age of the child, explained thirteen percent of the variance in optimistic attribution style (R2 = .13, F (4, 585) = 22.31, p < .001), the result for the age of the child were not statistically significant. These results only partially supported my hypothesis; I expected that parents with a higher parental sense of competence would have been more likely to adopt an optimistic attribution style over a
pessimistic attribution style. These results may show that parents with a higher parental sense of competence make fewer attributions about their child’s tantrums, not that they adopt a specific
attribution style.
Pathways b1 and b2 represent the effect of both attribution styles on harsh reactions.
Parent’s pessimistic attribution style related positively to harsh reactions (b1), which supported
my hypothesis. The other variables, except for optimistic attribution style and the number of words the child knew, explained a quarter of the variance in harsh reactions (R2 = .25, F (6, 583) = 32.65, p < .001); the result for optimistic attribution style and the number of words were not statistically significant. Contrary to my hypothesis, having an optimistic attribution style also positively related to harsh reactions (b2); however, the p-value for this effect was not statistically
significant. Therefore, optimistic attribution style and harsh reactions were not significantly associated.
Pathway c’ represents the direct effect of parental sense of competence on harsh reactions; this was the effect of parental sense of competence on harsh reactions that was not explained by the attribution styles. The results suggest that those with a higher parental sense of competence reacted harshly to their child’s tantrums less often. I did not include the effect sizes of the mediation analysis because of the limitations found for commonly used measures
like R2 and κ2. Both measures lack monotonicity, the property that ensures the preservation of an effect size measure relative to the original quantity that the effect size represents (Wen & Fan, 2015). Moreover, mathematically κ2 is incorrectly defined (Wen & Fan, 2015), and R2 does not
truly have a proportion of variance explain interpretation (Hayes, 2018). Because of these limitations and based on the suggested alternatives by Wen & Fan (2015), I reported instead the effect in the original scale (c’) and the completely standardized form (c’_cs). The completely standardized form of the direct effect of parental sense of competence on harsh reactions indicated that as parental sense of competence increases one standard deviation harsh reactions decrease less than one-fifth of a standard deviation (c’_cs = -.19).
Pathway c was the total effect of parental sense of competence and attribution style on harsh reactions. The results showed that parents with a higher parental sense of competence reported reacting harshly to temper tantrums less often. Parents with a lower parental sense of competence, who were already more likely to react harshly (according to the direct effect), used harsh reactions more often based partly on their pessimistic attributions. The completely
standardized total effect of parental sense of competence on harsh reactions showed that as parental sense of competence increased one standard deviation, harsh reaction use decreased a
quarter of a standard deviation (c_cs = -.25). These results suggest that parents who felt less competent responded more harshly, partly because they made pessimistic attributions.
Mediation. Pathway a1b1 illustrates the mediating role of pessimistic attribution style, the
only of the two attribution styles that had a statistically significant association with harsh reactions. The results show that two cases that differed by one point in the parental sense of competence scale were estimated to vary by a1b1 = -.07 (95% CIs [-.11, -.04]) in harsh reactions
through pessimistic attributions. The completely standardized indirect effect of pessimistic attribution style on harsh reactions showed that as pessimistic attributions increased one standard deviation, the use of harsh reactions decreased point four of a standard deviation through
pessimistic attributions (a1b1_cs = -.04 (95% CIsboot [-.07, -.02]). Meaning that those parents with
a lower sense of competence used harsh reactions more frequently because they were more likely to make pessimistic attributions. So, parents with a lower sense of competence seemed to have higher intentions of using harsh reactions, possibly due to their tendency to make more
pessimistic attributions.
Covariates. If the covariates (number of words, tantrum frequency, and child’s age) had not been controlled for, they could have mediated pessimistic and optimistic attribution styles and harsh reactions. Table 2 (see Appendix) shows the results from the mediation analysis for the covariates. Three of these results were non-significant – the effect of the number of words on harsh reactions and the effect of the child’s age on both attribution styles. The covariates effects with the largest regression coefficients were the number of words on pessimistic and optimistic attribution styles.
Temper tantrums are common in early childhood as young children struggle to
communicate their feelings and needs (Castiglia, 1988; O'Donnell, 2018; Potegal et al., 2003; Sisterhen & Wy, 2019). Most parents have had encounters with a child throwing a temper tantrum (Castiglia, 1988; Miller, 1995; Potegal & Davidson, 2003). Still, how they experience this parenting milestone differs according to their parental sense of competence: how capable they feel as parents (Beckerman et al., 2017; Coleman & Karraker, 1998; de Haan et al., 2009; Meunier & Roskam, 2009). Additionally, as they deal with parenting tasks, parents make judgments about their children's behaviors and the causes behind them. It is through these recurrent judgments that parents adopt an attribution style.
Throughout this paper, I have been seeking to answer the questions is low parental sense of competence related to parents' harsh reactions to temper tantrums? And, does having a
pessimistic attribution style over an optimistic attribution style explain this relation? I
hypothesized that parents with a lower sense of self-efficacy would make use of harsh reactions more often; I proposed that this would be because of their pessimistic attribution style. Those with a lower parental sense of competence would have a pessimistic attribution style over an optimistic attribution style, more often blaming temper tantrums on the child misbehaving on purpose. The results partially support my hypothesis. Parents' parental sense of competence was negatively related to harsh reactions, and attribution style partly explained the association between parental sense of competence and harsh reactions. Both attribution styles related negatively to parental sense of competence, but only pessimistic attribution style was associated with the use of harsh reactions. Pessimistic attribution style was also the only one for which a mediation effect was found.
Those with a lower parental sense of competence reported reacting harshly more often to their child's tantrum. I hypothesized that lower parental sense of competence would lead to a more frequent use of harsh reactions. I theorized this based on how parenting behaviors are believed to be motivated and shaped by parental sense of competence (Bandura, 1982; Coleman & Karraker, 1998; de Haan et al., 2009; Sanders & Woolley, 2005; Teti & Gelfand, 1991). Additionally, it has been found that parents with a lower parental sense of self-efficacy view interactions with their children as less enjoyable, which can result in the use of over-reactive techniques (Coleman & Karraker, 1998; de Haan et al., 2009; Jones & Prinz, 2005; Miller, 1995; Steading, 2016). I found through my results that parental sense of competence was related to harsh reactions in that parents with a lower parental sense of competence reported using harsh reactions more often. These results concur with previous findings that parental sense of self-efficacy is a significant factor in determining which behaviors a parent will attempt (Jones & Prinz, 2005). And that low self-efficacy in parents is related to overly harsh, coercive, and abusive discipline (Sanders & Woolley, 2005).
My results reiterate what other studies have argued about the importance of increasing parental sense of competence (Coleman & Karraker, 1998; Sanders & Woolley, 2005; Teti & Gelfand, 1991). Increasing parental sense of competence can help parents become more confident about their parenting skills and, in turn, increase positive parenting (Coleman & Karraker, 1998; Sanders & Woolley, 2005; Teti & Gelfand, 1991). As for the relationship between parental sense of competence and harsh reactions, helping parents feel more competent as caregivers can help reduce the use of harsh reactions when temper tantrums occur. It may even help reduce harsh reactions in other contexts and the decrease risk of child maltreatment.
However, it is necessary to acknowledge that parental sense of competence only partly explains why parents react harshly to their child's temper tantrums; other factors may be present. It may have to do with stress levels; if parents are experiencing high-stress levels, their parental sense of competence may decrease, and they may resort to harsh reactions more often out of impulsiveness (Bandura, 1982; Beckerman et al., 2017; Jones & Prinz, 2005). Or it may also have to do with child characteristics; it may be that the child's negative personality traits could reduce parental sense of competence and increase harsh reactions (Miller, 1995; Teti &
Candelaria, 2002). For example, some studies have found that children who throw more temper tantrums are more likely to be abused (Potegal & Davidson, 2003; Schmit, 1987).
Attribution Styles
The results indicated that parents with a lower sense of competence reported using harsh reactions more often, possibly due to their tendency to adopt a pessimistic attribution style. Based on how low parental sense of self-efficacy is related to perceiving the child's negative behaviors as intentional (Beckerman et al., 2017; Coleman & Karraker, 1998; Steading, 2016; Webster‐Stratton & Eyberg, 1982), and how it is also a potential risk factor for child
maltreatment (Belsky, 1984; Beckerman et al., 2017; Coleman & Karraker, 1998; Ellis & Milner, 1981; Jones & Prinz, 2005; Sawrikar & Dadds, 2018); I hypothesized that parents with a lower parental sense of competence would have a pessimistic attribution style over an optimistic attribution style; they would attribute tantrums to the child's deviancy, which would then make them react more harshly to the tantrum.
I found that attribution style partly explained the relationship between parental sense of competence and harsh reactions. The results showed that attribution styles might explain the relationship between parental sense of competence and harsh reactions in that parents with a
lower sense of competence seem to make more pessimistic attributions. Still, they also seem to make more optimistic attributions, which was something unexpected. It was not that parents with a lower sense of competence had a pessimistic attribution style over an optimistic attribution style, but instead that they made both types of attributions. Contrary to what I had hypothesized, it may not be that parents have a specific attribution style, but instead that they make more or fewer attributions in general. It may also be possible that parents with a lower parental sense of competence have children who throw more temper tantrums, so there is more to make
attributions about.
I also found that parents with a pessimistic attribution style reported reacting harshly to temper tantrums more often. This result aligns with findings that parents' attributions for their children's behavior are a significant determinant of their emotional response (Miller, 1995). Moreover, parents with a low parental sense of self-efficacy tend to report more child behavior problems and use more severe adverse reactions and disciplining techniques (Jones & Prinz, 2005; Sawrikar & Dadds, 2018). However, I found that, even though both pessimistic and optimistic attribution styles were negatively related to parental sense of competence, only pessimistic attributions were significantly associated with harsh reactions and had a mediating effect.
It appears that low parental sense of competence leads to attributions, and if those attributions are pessimistic, they can lead to harsh reactions. Yet, it may be that pessimistic attributions do not lead to harsh reactions, but the other way around. Harsh reactions may come first and then lead to pessimistic attributions. Rather than rationally weighing the possible options for what caused the tantrum, parents may first respond behaviorally and then look for an explanation that justifies their actions (Miller, 1995). This theory aligns with findings that
abusive parents tend to place the responsibility of the maltreatment on the child, or other external factors in order to justify the abuse (Ellis & Milner, 1981).
Limitations & Strengths
This study was not without its limitations. The final sample was a lot smaller than the original sample of participants in the questionnaire. The final study sample consisted mostly of highly educated mothers and their healthy older toddlers that mostly had infrequent tantrums. Given the study's focus, it would have been advisable to have a sample of parents that reported more frequent use of harsh reactions (d = .29, 95% CIs [.03, .55]). It would also have been desirable to have an equal sample in terms of the number of mothers and fathers. This sample consisted of mostly mothers (96.1%), and it has been found that fathers and mothers differ in the attributions they make as well as the reactions they have to their childrens actions (Miller, 1995).
Another limitation in terms of the sample is that the sample population only included families in Amsterdam. It is essential to consider the cultural differences related to what people regard as harsh reactions and what feeling competent as a parent means (Coleman & Karraker, 2003; Meunier & Roskam, 2009). Further research should look at cultural differences that might be present in the relationship between parental sense of competence, harsh reactions, and
attribution styles.
Despite the sample limitations and drop-out rate (39.1% drop-out), the final sample size (N = 590) was large. Furthermore, the sample represented parents more at risk of maltreatment because it consisted mainly of parents with a lower sense of competence (compared to the original sample).
The Cronbach's alpha of both attribution styles scales was sufficient; however, it would have been better to have higher internal consistency for these scales. Adding more elements to
each scale or focusing on items that were more representative of each attribution style would have been suitable to increase the consistency of the scales. For example, for a pessimistic attribution style adding elements such as 'my child was being stubborn' or 'my child was defiant' (Jenson et al., 1998). For an optimistic attribution style adding elements such as 'someone else caused the tantrum' or 'my child was reacting to other people's actions' (Gretarsson & Gelfand, 1988).
Despite only having sufficient internal consistency, the operationalization of these scales was selected based on research and evidence (Beckerman et al. 2017; Ellis & Milner, 1981; Jenson et al., 1998; Sanders & Woolley, 2005; Webster‐Stratton & Eyberg, 1982; Weiner, 1985;
Williamson & Johnston, 2015). A high measure of reliability, such as Cronbach's alpha, is essential, but theoretical support for the scale is also necessary. This operationalization managed to have a sufficiently reliable scale, as well as academic evidence supporting it.
The relationship between attribution styles was not studied in this paper; attribution styles were treated as parallel mediators, although the correlation analysis showed a moderately
significant positive correlation between the two. Future research should explore the relationship between pessimistic and optimistic attribution styles.
Conclusion
The study's aim was twofold, to explain the relationship between parental sense of competence and harsh reactions and the role attribution styles have in explaining this relation. Parents with a lower parental sense of competence used harsh reactions more often, showing a relationship between parental sense of competence and harsh reactions. If their parental sense of competence was low, parents made use of harsh reactions more frequently, possibly due to the pessimistic attributions they were making, demonstrating that pessimistic attributions seem to
function as a mediator in this relationship. This is not to say that these parents were only making pessimistic attributions; both attribution styles were positively correlated, meaning that parents were possibly making both types of attributions rather than one or the other.
The information presented here and the results obtained filled a gap in research about what factors (attribution styles being one of them) can help better understand the relationship between parental sense of competence and harsh reactions. It appears to be the first study to focus on the role of attribution styles as a mediators in the relationship between parental sense of competence and harsh reactions of parents to temper tantrums. This study gives valuable insight into the relationship between parental sense of competence, harsh reactions, and attribution styles. By increasing parental sense of competence, it may be possible to reduce the use of harsh reactions and promote positive parenting. Furthermore, helping parents understand their own biases towards their children's behavior and the attributions they make about them can help parents gain a more objective perspective and better engage with their children. Parents must understand that how confident they feel as caretakers can affect how they perceive their children's actions and how they react to them.
This study could be a starting point for new research that looks into what other elements may be at play in the link between parental sense of competence, harsh reactions, and attribution styles. The results presented here can be considered preliminary; further research is needed to see if the same results are found in different contexts. An experimental study and a longitudinal study would be useful in further testing the results obtained here and examining if they are replicable in different conditions and hold right through prolonged periods.
This study’s results could be used in practical applications to create interventions that
Low parental sense of competence is a risk factor for harsh reactions that can lead to violence or future problems in children (Beckerman et al., 2017; Belsky, 1984; Coleman & Karraker, 1998; Ellis & Milner, 1981; Jones & Prinz, 2005; Sawrikar & Dadds, 2018). Pessimistic attributions may also be considered a risk factor since they seems to lead to harsh reactions and have a mediating effect in the relationship between parental sense of competence and harsh reactions. Programs that target parents with a low parental sense of competence and aim to increase their confidence as caretakers while reducing their pessimistic attributions could be beneficial to many families. Parents could learn how to feel more confident about their parenting skills and also how to reframe the attributions they make about their children’s behaviors into more positive ones. These programs could help reduce abuse while also increasing positive parenting.
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Appendix Table 2
Unstandardized Mediation Analysis Results for the Covariates in the Parallel Multiple Mediator Model Depicted in Fig.3
Consequent Harsh Reactions Pessimistic Attribution
Style Optimistic Attribution Style Covariates β SE p β SE p β SE p Age of the child .02 .00 .000** .00 .00 .862 .00 .00 .771 Number of words .00 .10 .979 .46 .12 .000** .34 .10 .001** Temper tantrum frequency .09 .04 .008* .23 .04 .000** .17 .04 .000**
Note. β = regression coefficient, SE = standard error, p = probability value, significant at the
