CHILDRENS ATTRIBUTIONS ABOUT FAMILY ARGUMENTS - IMPLICATIONS FOR FAMILY-THERAPY

Children's attributions about the causes of family arguments affect bo th their interpretations of the meaning of and their adjustment to suc h events. Children's attributions about family arguments are, therefor e, of importance in family therapy, especially for therapists who work from a cognitive or constructivist perspective. In an exploratory stu dy, we examined children's attributions about family arguments in two arenas: marital arguments and parent-child arguments. Ninety-two child ren, aged 5-12, listened to an audiotaped argument and answered a seri es-of structured questions concerning different attributions about the causes of such arguments. Descriptive analyses of the most and least endorsed attributions provided an overall map of the ''stories'' child ren tell about the causes of family arguments, and showed that, in gen eral, they are more likely to endorse multiple, interacting causes tha n internal, blaming attributions. Additionally, children of all ages m ade somewhat different attributions concerning mothers vs, fathers in marital arguments. Implications for family therapy and suggestions for future clinical research are discussed.