Toddlers' and mothers' behaviors in an injury-risk situation: Implicationsfor sex differences in childhood injuries

Injuries are the leading cause of death during childhood. Although many inj uries to toddlers occur when children are at home and being supervised by c aregivers, there has been little research examining how parents respond to children approaching injury-risk hazards. Ln the present study mothers and their toddlers were unobtrusively videotaped as they waited in an office co ntaining a number of contrived hazards that could result in injury to the c hild. From the video records we examined when mothers attended to hazards ( before or after the child approached the hazard), what they said or did (re move hazard, redirect child- verbally or physically), and children's respon ses to their mother's efforts to redirect them away from injury hazards. Ot her factors that were examined as potential influences on parents' response s included the child's injury history, the parent's report of the child's t ypical level of risk taking, and the child's level of receptive language de velopment. Boys were more likely than girls to approach injury-risk hazards and were more likely immediately to touch or retrieve the item; frequency of touching hazards positively correlated with mothers' reports of children 's risk taking and injury histories. Mothers used more, and mon effortful, redirection strategies for boys, and boys were less compliant than girls in response to their mother's efforts to redirect them from hazards.