Attributions for disability: The influence of genetic screening

There is currently much debate on how the widespread availability of prenatal testing for fetal abnormalities influences attributions for the birth of children with disabilities. The aim of the current study is to determine how the birth of a child with Down syndrome is explained when information is provided on whether the mother underwent testing in pregnancy, and the reasons for that. Using a between subjects design, four groups (pregnant women, general samples of men and women, geneticists and obstetricians) from three EC countries (Germany, Portugal and the U.K.) completed one of two vignettes. The vignettes described a mother giving birth to a child with Down syndrome, in one, following her decline of the offer of testing, in the other, following no offer of test from the hospital. Subjects rated the mother's perceived control over the outcome, the extent to which she was to blame, and the extent to which health professionals might be to blame. In all three countries and for all study groups, screening history of the mother was the single most important factor influencing attributions of control and blame following the birth of a child with Down syndrome. A mother who declined the offer of testing was seen as having control over this outcome, and was in part blamed for it. The results of this study suggest that both health professionals and lay groups make judgments about women's roles in the birth of children with disabilities. These findings require replication in studies assessing attributions rated from spontaneous speech, of people with personal and professional experiences of the births of children with disabilities. If replicated, the consequences of these attributions for health professionals in helping families and adjustment in these families, needs to be considered.