BELIEFS ABOUT STORIES - PARENTS AND THERAPISTS EXPLANATIONS OF CHILDHOOD DIFFICULTIES

Therapists and parents were given vignettes describing the behavioural and emotional difficulties of two nine-year-old children and were ask ed to rate the importance of a number of possible explanations for suc h difficulties. Broad agreement was found between parents and therapis ts, but also there were a number of significant differences. Parents e ndorsed more child centered explanations and put greater emphasis on p hysical and developmental factors, while therapists endorsed relations hips factors and saw the beliefs of other family members as important. Therapists who were parents showed a pattern of responses that lay be tween those of parents and non-parent therapists.