contributory factor• Check that overfeeding is not a contributory factor.• In investigating the causes of absenteeism from work, for example, researchers have found different contributory factors.• This may well have been a contributory factor in the prevalence of death in child-birth.• Another possible contributory factor is the increasing difficulty in admitting acutely ill patients.• But those within the service point to the investment in training as a majorcontributory factor to an increasingly professional service.• Some scientists have pointed to a recentbrightening of the sun as an important contributory factor to globalwarming.• The controversy surrounding the film was doubtless a contributory factor to Hollywood's subsequent avoidance of the subject.• Many different contributory factors were suggested, from nationaldifferences in personalitystructure and child-rearing practices to politicalinstitutions.