PARENTS SOCIALIZATION OF CHILDRENS INJURY PREVENTION - DESCRIPTION AND SOME INITIAL PARAMETERS

In a year-long participant observation study of remediative action fol lowing actual injury, 61 8- and 9-year-old children and their 27-46-ye ar-old mothers wrote records and reported on more than 1,000 minor inj uries in branching biweekly interviews. Mothers reported that 80.1% of injuries received no parent-initiated remediation, 14% received only a lecture, and less than 3% of injuries were followed by parental acti on. Children reported that 96.1% of their injuries were followed by no remediative action and recalled lectures after only 1.2% of injuries. Remediative action was related to type of child activity (e.g., unstr uctured play was followed by remediation more than often purposive beh avior) and to mother's affect (e.g., anger) and beliefs (e.g., that in jury was the child's fault or due to rule violation). The parameters t hat influenced remediative consequences, and thus that may influence f uture injury, are discussed.