Parenting schemas and the process of change

Parents' childrearing behaviors are guided by schemas of the caregiving role, their functioning in that role, what children need in general, and what their own children are like in particular. Sometimes, however, parenting schemas can be maladaptive because they are too rigid or simple, involve inappropriate content, or are dominated by negative affect. In this article, we describe parenting schemas and provide an overview of empirical work documenting the characteristics of maladaptive parenting schemas. We review how intervention practices common to multiple therapeutic approaches (cognitive-behavior therapy, family therapy, parent training, attachment-based interventions, and psychoanalytic parent-infant psychotherapy) attempt to modify schemas to promote more optimal functioning among parents. We highlight how research in cognitive science may explain, in part, treatment effectiveness.     

Beliefs and attributions of partner violence perpetrators: the physical and psychological violence of adolescent males

Partner violence is a crime of national concern. Understanding the cognitions of adolescent males who perpetrate partner violence is critical to develop appropriate interventions. One hundred and thirty-two partnered undergraduate males were assessed on gender beliefs, relationship beliefs, and partner attributions. More than 80% of males endorsed psychological or physical violence perpetration in the past year. Adolescent males who perpetrated psychological or physical partner violence were more likely to endorse hostile beliefs about women, negative partner attributions, and unrealistic relationship beliefs, as compared with nonviolent adolescents. Further, the relationship belief that partners cannot change and hostile partner attributions significantly predicted the frequency of psychological partner violence. The relationship belief disagreement is destructive predicted the frequency of physical partner violence, controlling for the influence of psychological violence. Clinical implications and future directions are discussed.