The relationship between knowledge, attributions and behavior in adolescent mothers: Implications for child outcomes

Empirical literature suggests that maternal knowledge of child development influences the ways in which mothers interpret the behavior of their children and how they interact with their children. The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship of maternal knowledge, attributions, and disciplinary responses in adolescent mothers. It further examined whether the effect of mothers' knowledge on disciplinary responses operates through mothers' attributions of child intent/responsibility. Observations of mother-child interactions were also investigated to explore the effects of maternal control on child compliance, viewed as an indicator of child internalization. 96 pregnant and parenting adolescents aged 14–19 completed paper-pencil measures assessing knowledge, maternal attributions, and behaviors. A subset of 33 mothers and their children (aged 12 months to 36 months) participated in an observation activity involving a toy cleanup paradigm. Results indicated that lower levels of maternal knowledge were significantly related to higher attributions of child intent and responsibility and greater preference for power assertive discipline. Maternal attributions were found to mediate the relationship between knowledge and power assertion. Maternal Gentle Guidance was found to predict child Situational Compliance, but forms of maternal negative control were not found to be predictors of child noncompliance.