A comparison of direct and spontaneous methods for assessing parental attributions.

Objectives. The study aim was to test whether spontaneous parental attributions were more closely related to parental attributions reported after a third child noncompliance, than to those reported after the first non-compliance. Methods. Twenty-six parents completed two attributional measures. Direct attributions were measured using Dopke and Milner's procedure where a vignette describing child non-compliance is presented three times and attributions elicited after the first and third non-compliance. Spontaneous attributions were elicited during interview and coded using the Leeds Attributional Coding System. Results. Spontaneous attributions were no more associated with parental attributions after the third child non-compliance than with those reported after the first. Conclusion. The results suggest that the measures may be assessing different aspects of parental cognition.