| Name: | Description: | Size: | Format: | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9.01 MB | Adobe PDF |
Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
An information-processing approach to maladaptive parenting suggests that
high-risk and maltreating parents are likely to hold inaccurate and biased
preexisting cognitive schemata about child development and child rearing.
Importantly, these schemas, which may include values, beliefs, expectations, and
attitudes, are known to influence the way parents perceive and subsequently
act toward their children. However, the few studies specifically addressing
parental attitudes only considered global maltreatment, not distinguishing
abuse from neglect. Moreover, few have considered dual-process models
of cognition, relying mostly on the explicit level of parental attitudes that
can be prone to various biases. Based on the Social Information Processing
(SIP) model of child abuse and neglect, this study examines the association
of parents preexisting cognitive schemata, namely explicit and implicit
parental attitudes, and child abuse and neglect. A convenience sample of 201
mothers (half with at least one child referred to child protection services)
completed a measure of explicit parental attitudes and a speed-accuracy task
related to parenting. Abuse and neglect were measured with self-report and
professionals-report instruments. Overall, the results support the hypothesis
that maladaptive parenting is related with more biased preexisting cognitive
schemas, namely attitudes related to parenting, but only for neglect and
particularly when reported by professionals. Moreover, the results observed with both the explicit and implicit measures of attitudes were convergent,
with mothers presenting more inadequate explicit attitudes also exhibiting an
overall lower performance in the implicit attitudes task. This study is likely to
contribute to the SIP framework of child abuse and neglect, particularly for
the elucidation of the sociocognitive factors underlying maladaptive parenting,
while also providing relevant cues for prevention and intervention programs.
Description
Keywords
Maladaptive parenting Child abuse and neglect Information processing Parental attitudes Parental cognitions
Pedagogical Context
Citation
Camilo, C., Garrido, M. V., & Calheiros, M. M. (2022). Parental attitudes in child maltreatment. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37(5-6), 2920-2947. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260520943724