‘We are dealing with it the best we can’: Exploring parents’ attributions regarding their child’s physical disability using the ‘Four Ws’ framework

Zschorn, Melissa; Shute, Rosalyn H.

doi:10.1177/1359104515614071

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Coping attributions tempered initial negative judgments of the targets with disabilities, which may be because targets who were coping were perceived as having more personal responsibility (i.e., more control) over their lives (Baines & Wittkowski, 2013). However, it is also possible that, by highlighting an individual’s capacity to cope with their disability (rather than focusing on their symptomology), perceptions of the disability can be altered from “unchangeable” to “manageable” (Baines & Wittkowski, 2013; Lebowitz & Ahn, 2012, 2014, 2016; Lebowitz, Ahn, & Nolen-Hoeksema, 2013; Zschorn & Shute, 2016).…”

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confidence: 99%

Active coping efforts temper negative attributions of disability stigma.

Key

Vaughn

2019

Stigma and Health

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The current research examined attributional evaluations and health perceptions of targets with various disabilities and explored the role that government assistance and coping played in shaping these ratings across three studies. Participants were recruited from Amazon’s MTurk (n = 163, 200, and 180, respectively). Participants read vignettes describing three women with disabilities (cardiovascular disease, depression, and pain; Study 1). In Study 2, this information was standardized to explore disability differences attributed to the disability, and in Study 3, specific information about coping was also presented. Across all three studies, government assistance was not predictive of attributional evaluations or health perceptions. However, in two of the three studies, disabilities did differ in attributional evaluations and health perceptions. Specifically, cardiovascular disease was rated the harshest. Coping also led to differences in attributional evaluations and health perceptions with targets who did not cope at all receiving the harshest ratings, while targets who actively coped receiving the kindest ratings, and this was independent of disability. Results suggest that information about stigma onset and offset are both important in the attributional process whether implicit in the disability or explicitly stated in the vignette as coping. These results may inform stigma reduction efforts and future research.

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confidence: 99%

Active coping efforts temper negative attributions of disability stigma.

Key

Vaughn

2019

Stigma and Health

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“…adaptation, including higher levels of parenting stress, anger, and depression, whereas attributing a child's disability to chance may be more adaptive. 15,16,28 The higher risk of CP after preterm birth is well established. Two-thirds of study participants recognized preterm birth as a risk factor for CP and 28% endorsed it as a contributing cause of CP in their own child.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our study data show that parents' experiences of anger and confusion were strongly related to perceived brain damage, hypoxia, or medical intervention during birth, or to the belief that medical error was involved. This finding is important because parents who blame others for the birth of their child with disability have been shown to have poorer adaptation, including higher levels of parenting stress, anger, and depression, whereas attributing a child's disability to chance may be more adaptive 15,16,28 …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Causation in cerebral palsy: Parental beliefs and associated emotions

Smyth

Reid

Paton

et al. 2023

Develop Med Child Neuro

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AimTo better understand parents' beliefs about causation in cerebral palsy (CP) and the emotions related to those beliefs.MethodWe surveyed 226 parents of children with CP aged 1 to 18 years, recruited from the Victorian Cerebral Palsy Register, to evaluate their beliefs about the causes of CP, including genetic causes, causes specific to their own child, and their attitudes and emotions in relation to these.ResultsAlthough 92% of participants reported that understanding the causes of their child's CP was important, uncertainty about the cause was expressed by 13%. The most frequently endorsed causal factors, in general and in their own child respectively, were intrapartum hypoxia (81%, 36%) or brain damage (69%, 22%), brain damage during pregnancy (73%, 28%), and preterm birth (66%, 28%). Genetic causes were deemed relevant by 13% of participants and hospital or professional error by 16%. Parents shared related feelings of anger (59%), sadness (80%), guilt (61%), and confusion (53%); parental anger was more likely when their child's CP was attributed to intrapartum events.InterpretationSubstantial parental interest in understanding the causes of CP, together with uncertainty about the causes, parents' causal attributions, and significant emotional sequelae, highlight a strong need for provision of information and support for families of children recently diagnosed with CP.

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