Mothers' responses to sons and daughters engaging in injury-risk behaviorson a playground: Implications for sex differences in injury rates

Videotapes of children engaging in injury-risk activities on a playground w ere shown to mothers, who were asked to intervene by stopping the tape and saying whatever they would to their child in the situation shown. Results r evealed that mothers of daughters were more likely to judge behaviors as po sing some degree of injury risk, and they intervened more frequently and qu ickly than mothers of sons. Mothers' speed to intervene positively correlat ed with both children's injury history and their risk-taking tendencies, in dicating that mothers of children who were previously injured and who often engaged in injury-risk behaviors had a higher degree of tolerance for chil dren's risk taking than mothers of children who experienced fewer injuries and less frequently engaged in injury-risk behaviors. Mothers' verbalizatio ns to children's risk taking revealed that daughters received more cautions and statements communicating vulnerability for injury, whereas sons receiv ed more statements encouraging risk-taking behavior. (C) 2000 Academic Pres s.