ADOLESCENT AND ADULT MOTHERS PERCEPTIONS OF HAZARDOUS SITUATIONS FOR THEIR CHILDREN

Purpose: To determine if young and inexperienced parents perceive pote ntially dangerous situations as less hazardous for children than do ad ult parents. Methods: Sixty expectant adolescent mothers and 45 adult mothers viewed photographs of infants and children in a variety of pot entially hazardous situations. Using a 10-point scale, participants es timated the likelihood of injury, the anticipated level of harm, and t heir own likelihood of intervention in each situation. Results: Expect ant adolescent mothers were significantly less likely than adult mothe rs to report intervention in potentially dangerous situations. Previou s child care training and experience increased their likelihood of int ervention in such hazardous situations. Expectant adolescent mothers p erceived greater likelihood of injury for the target child than did ad ult mothers. Conclusions: Adolescent parents with little child care ex perience should be alerted to the importance of intervening in potenti ally hazardous situations for infants and young children.