Influence of attributions on negative emotions of individuals experiencing parenting-related trauma

Abstract

We investigated how the type of trauma and attributions contribute to and affect negative emotions in individuals who have experienced parenting-related trauma. We assessed 6 negative emotions and 4 attributions of 294 participants who had experienced 3 types of parenting-related trauma: infertility, death of a child, or a child with a disability; and 124 participants who had not experienced parentingrelated trauma (control group). Results show that the attributions had different effects on the negative emotions of participants in each of the 3 trauma groups and the control group. Our findings suggest that attribution is an important factor in inhibiting the influence of parenting-related trauma on negative emotions.