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Parental Attributions in Ethnocultural Minority, Immigrant, and Country of Origin Parents: A Scoping Review and Call for Research

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Abstract

Objective

Maladaptive parental attributions for their children’s behavior have been linked to poorer parenting skills, heightened child internalizing and externalizing difficulties, and parents’ less willingness to engage in treatment. Although most parental attributions research has been focused on White or European-origin parents, attention has recently turned to ethnic and cultural groups that are underrepresented literature. The present scoping review synthesized existing work on parental attributions among ethnocultural minority and immigrant parents in an adopted country and parents residing in their native non-Western country of origin.

Method

A systematic search of five databases was conducted for literature published up to and including the last week of December 2020. Title and abstract screening, then full-text screening, identified 18 records for inclusion in the review.

Results

Although descriptive, single-culture studies showed that maladaptive parental attributions were associated with poorer parenting and child outcomes across cultures, studies comparing ethnocultural groups demonstrated differences in parental attributions across groups.

Conclusions

Despite the rise in and importance of literature on parental attributions, these results point to a limited scope in understanding parental attributions of ethnocultural minority, immigrant, and country of origin parents. Gaps identified in the literature point to promising future research directions, and a call is made for culturally sensitive parental attribution measures.

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Notes

  1. Although PRISMA guidelines for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR; Tricco et al., 2018) were not used at the outset, the present scoping review has several items in common with the PRISMA criteria (Items 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22).

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Acknowledgements

The authors express thanks to Nigel Mantou Lou for comments on a prior draft of this work.

Funding

The first author (HK) was supported by the Discovery Fund at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. The senior author (BFA) was supported by a grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

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Kil, H., Singh, A.D., Bains, A. et al. Parental Attributions in Ethnocultural Minority, Immigrant, and Country of Origin Parents: A Scoping Review and Call for Research. Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev 24, 707–724 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-021-00361-5

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