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Attributional styles in boys with severe behaviour problems: A possible reason for lack of progress on a positive behaviour programme
Author(s) -
Eslea Mike
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
british journal of educational psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.557
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 2044-8279
pISSN - 0007-0998
DOI - 10.1348/000709999157554
Subject(s) - attribution , psychology , developmental psychology , remedial education , style (visual arts) , sample (material) , social psychology , clinical psychology , mathematics education , archaeology , history , chemistry , chromatography
Background. The number of exclusions from British schools has been increasing in recent years: the vast majority are because of disruptive behaviour. Increasing the effectiveness of behaviour control is therefore a priority for educators. Aims. This study tests the hypothesis that children who do not respond well to a behaviour modification regime exhibit a depressed attributional style. Sample. The sample comprised 26 boys aged 7‐11 in a special day school for children with behaviour problems. Method. Participants were interviewed about positive and negative aspects of school life: responses were coded using the Leeds Attributional Coding System (Stratton et al. , 1988). School records were then used to identify children making good progress through the Positive Behaviour Programme ( N = 13) and those making little or no progress ( N = 8). Results. Mean proportions of stable, global, internal, personal and controllable attributions were compared by progress group (high/low) and outcome (positive/negative) using mixed‐design ANOVA. High progress children made significantly more global and internal attributions for positive than for negative events, while low progress children made more personal attributions for negative than for positive events. Conclusions. A depressed attributional style may act as a barrier which hinders the generalisation and internalisation of traditional behaviour modification methods. Increased teacher‐awareness of attribution could increase the effectiveness of remedial programmes.