1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«The aim of this study was to analyze how the opinions of mothers and interveners about handling problems of adolescents influenced the mothers’ attitudes towards the interveners.» (p. 131)

Questions/Hypothèses :
«The research hypothesis stated that the convergence of opinions condition should yield more positive attitudes towards the interveners than the divergence of opinions condition.» (p. 135)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«The study involved the participation of 61 mothers with the following characteristics:
• biological mothers of adolescents aged between 12 and 18;
• French-speaking;
• recipients of services from the Centres de réadaptation pour jeunes en difficultés d’adaptation (Rehabilitation centres for maladjusted youths [CRJDA]) in the Quebec region for more than a week.» (p. 132)

Instruments :
Questionnaire

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

«This research was the first to be conducted in an applied setting (using a real problem encountered by real people), and treatment was adapted to the most important problem that each mother had with her adolescent. Because the mother’s opinions were related to her main problem, the attitudinal response elicited by the interveners’ opinion was strong. In most previous studies, the subjects were university students, and the topic of opinions tended to be neutral. Thus, it was not surprising that rather weak emotional responses were obtained. […] One of the limits of this study has to do with the generalizability of the results. Duplication of the experiment with other subjects and interveners in different environments would add to the generalizability of the results. Comparison of the results on the measure of attitudes using a semantic differential, a question, and observations of facial expressions might be interesting. The researchers and experimenters saw that, during interviews with the mothers, facial expressions may be better indicators of attitudes than verbal expressions. It would be interesting to verify this.» (p. 135)