Stratton

Year

2003

Aim

To observe attributional styles in troubled families that

sought therapeutic help

Participants

analysed films of family therapy sessions

from eight families with either step-parents or adoptive

parents. All of the children in the household and both the

parents attended the recorded sessions.

Method

A qualitative research study—observation and content

analysis of transcripts.

Procedure

All interactions observed in the recordings were coded

using a comprehensive checklist for coding attributional

behaviours. The total number of attributions analysed was

1,799, with around 4 attributions per minute per family

Results

Parents often used attributions which implied that their

children cause bad outcomes.

– All of the parents in these families made more

dispositional attributions for their children than

themselves

– Negative behaviours of children were described as

controllable more often than negative behaviours of

parents.

Conclusion

Researchers concluded that for these troubled families the attributional style was consistent with “blaming

the children”—describing the children as causing negative

outcomes and the parents as being affected by these

outcomes. This shows how distress in family relationships is

associated with negative (blaming) attributions.