Examined parenting efficacy, perceived control over failure in caregiving, and mothers' likely affective, attributional, and disciplinary reaction to inattentive, hyperactive-impulsive, and oppositional-defiant misbehaviors, as reported by mothers. Found that parenting efficacy and perceived control over failure may be unrelated cognitive constructs and that mothers discriminate significantly between hyperactive-impulsive and inattentive behaviors in preschoolers. (Author/SD)