This study is focused on preservice early-childhood teachers' attributions about control and responsibility for negative caregiving outcomes. Prior research has linked low perceived control over failed outcomes with harsh care-giving behavior. In this sample of 81 preservice teachers in a pre-kindergarten, Associate-degree program, bivariate correlations revealed associations between preservice teachers' perceived control over caregiving outcomes, the parenting styles they experienced during childhood, and the complexity of their reasoning about children's development. When entered into regression analyses, low perceived control over negative caregiving outcomes was predicted by ratings of high parental permissiveness experienced as a child, as well as by categorical, rather than complex, conceptions of development. Implications of findings for university preparation of preservice teachers are discussed. (Contains 2 tables.)