Interactions Between Child Behavior Patterns and Parent Supervision: Implications for Children's Risk of Unintentional Injury

• Published in: Child development Vol. 79; no. 3; pp. 627 - 638
• Main Authors: Morrongiello, Barbara A., Klemencic, Nora, Corbett, Michael
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Malden, USA Blackwell Publishing Inc 01.05.2008; Wiley-Blackwell; Blackwell Publishing; Blackwell; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Accident Prevention - methods; Accidents; Accidents, Home - prevention & control; Accidents, Home - statistics & numerical data; Age Factors; Analysis of Variance; Attitude to Health; Behavior Patterns; Behavioural psychology; Biological and medical sciences; Caregivers; Child; Child Behavior; Child Behavior - psychology; Child care; Child Care - methods; Child Care - psychology; Child development; Child, Preschool; Childhood; Children; Cognition; Developmental psychology; Empirical Articles; Exploratory Behavior; Family studies; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Injuries; Male; Medical sociology; Miscellaneous; Mother-Child Relations; Mothers; Mothers - psychology; Parent-child relations; Parenting; Parenting - psychology; Parenting Styles; Parents; Parents & parenting; Physical trauma; Preschool children; Psychology and medicine; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Questionnaires; Regression Analysis; Risk; Risk Assessment; Risk Factors; Risk-Taking; School age children; Sensation seeking; Sex Factors; Studies; Surveys and Questionnaires; Wounds and Injuries - etiology; Wounds and Injuries - prevention & control; Young Children; Human; Preschool age; Parental behavior; Social interaction; Injury; Risk factor; Family environment; Child; Supervision; Parent child relation
• ISSN: 0009-3920; 1467-8624
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2008.01147.x

Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death for children. Prior research has implicated both child behavioral attributes and parent supervisory patterns as risk factors. The present study assessed interactions between these two risk factors and determined whether supervision moderates the relation between child attributes and injury. Mothers completed questionnaire measures of child attributes and supervisory patterns and also recorded how they supervised their young child (2—5 years) at home on each of 10 randomly selected days within a 3-week period. Results provide support for the moderating effect of supervision: Supervision interacted with some child attributes to elevate children's risk of medically attended injury and with other attributes to decrease injury risk. Implications for preventing childhood injuries are discussed.