Correlation vs Causation

[Jean-Marc Perreault]

Hi all,          I'm browsing through some research on childrearing practices, and I came accross the following abstract: In the following: Journal of Genetic Psychology, Vol 164(1), Mar 2003. pp. 72-87. Journal URL: http://www.heldref.org/html/gnt.html   by Brook, J., Brook, D., & Whiteman, M. (2003) The present study was designed to examine the relationship between characteristics of mothers and their toddler's insecure and dependent behavior. The authors studied 254 2-year-old toddlers and their mothers via a structured questionnaire administered to the mothers in their homes. The extent to which insecure and dependent behavior is related to the domains of maternal child rearing, maternal personality traits, parental marital relations, and maternal drug use was assessed. Using Pearson correlations and hierarchical multiple regression analyses, the authors found that the maternal child-rearing and maternal personality domains have a direct effect on the toddlers' insecure and dependent behavior. The maternal child-rearing domain also served as a mediator for the domains of the maternal personality attributes, parents' marital relations, and maternal drug use. There also was evidence suggesting an indirect effect of maternal personality attributes on the toddlers' insecure and dependent behavior, which is mediated by the domain of maternal child-rearing practices. Implications for the prevention of insecure and dependent behavior in toddlers are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2003 APA, all rights reserved) I've highlighted the passage that makes me wonder: Am I mistaken in wondering how a Pearson Correlation lead the researchers to conclude  about a causal effect? Even browsing through the article itself, there is no mention (that I caught anyhow) about being cautious when drawing causality from correlation. Anyone care to comment on this? Cheers! JM --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]