Oppositional Child Behavior and Parental Locus of Control

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Abstract
Explores an attitudinal variable that might hamper parent training programs, the maladaptive assumption that a parent cannot influence her or his child. The Parent Locus of Control Scale (PLOC) was tested for reliability and subsequently used with a large sample of clinic-referred, oppositional children. The PLOW demonstrated adequate test-retest reliability, internal consistency, and validity with criterion measures of child coerciveness (clinic status, noncompliance, negative talk, cry/yell, and timeout resistance). An external locus of control regarding parenting may be partially a result of raising a difficult child. Fortunately, PLOW scores were not associated with treatment dropout, and those families that successfully completed a standardized parenting program displayed a more internal locus of control following treatment. Implications for future research are discussed.