Mothers' Beliefs About Behavioral Causes for Their Developmentally Disabled Infant's Condition: What Do They Signify?

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Abstract
Mothers of young infants with perinatal medical problems or genetic syndromes strongly associated with developmental disability were interviewed about causes of the infant's condition. Mothers who assigned causal responsibility to their own behavior, mothers who blamed other behavior, and mothers who did not suspect behavioral causes were compared on other variables measured concurrently with attributions and from follow-up home visits at 9 and 18 months. Group differences were found for concurrently report ed mood disturbance and caretaking difficulties; reported caretaking problems at 9 months; maternal responsiveness, involvement with the child and organization of the infant's environment at 9 and 18 months; and total scores on the HOME Inventory, measuring support for the infant's social, cognitive, and emotional development, at 18 months. For each significant analysis, more optimal scores were associated with behavioral self-blame. Blaming others was usually related to less optimal outcomes. The findings are inter preted in the context of theory and research on aitributional processes in coping with victimization.