Mothers' Responses to Sons and Daughters Engaging in Injury-Risk Behaviors on a Playground: Implications for Sex Differences in Injury Rates

doi:10.1006/jecp.2000.2572

Journal of Experimental Child Psychology

Volume 76, Issue 2, June 2000, Pages 89-103

https://doi.org/10.1006/jecp.2000.2572 Get rights and content

Abstract

Videotapes of children engaging in injury-risk activities on a playground were 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 revealed that mothers of daughters were more likely to judge behaviors as posing some degree of injury risk, and they intervened more frequently and quickly than mothers of sons. Mothers' speed to intervene positively correlated with both children's injury history and their risk-taking tendencies, indicating that mothers of children who were previously injured and who often engaged in injury-risk behaviors had a higher degree of tolerance for children's risk taking than mothers of children who experienced fewer injuries and less frequently engaged in injury-risk behaviors. Mothers' verbalizations to children's risk taking revealed that daughters received more cautions and statements communicating vulnerability for injury, whereas sons received more statements encouraging risk-taking behavior.

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Citation Excerpt :
The higher incidence of females tends to go against the belief that boys suffer higher FB injuries due to them being involved in a higher number of injuries in general in comparison to girls, for example, as a result of boys taking more risks and being more impulsive [26]. It may reflect cultural aspects, for example, parental control being more greatly imposed on males, whereas the reverse has been reported [27]. However, it may relate to gender within a cultural context.
The present study aimed at analyzing and comparing Foreign Body (FB) injuries patterns in children from Turkey and other European countries in order to assess any country and culturally specific aspects of FB risk.
Data from Susy Safe register were included in the analysis. For this study, ICD-935 (mouth, esophagus and stomach) and ICD-934 (trachea, bronchus, and lung) cases from European countries and from a single center in the Istanbul Bahcelievler State Hospital, Turkey, were extracted from the Susy database. A Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) approach was employed to identify differences or similarities between the groups of FB injuries.
The Turkey dataset has a larger proportion of females in comparison to the European data (p-value 0.002). According to the MCA analysis, the first two dimensions are explaining 48.11% of the variability (dimension 1, 37.44%; dimension 2, 10.67%). The three largest contributions to dimension 1 are via naturalis removal, not hospitalized, and ICD-935. The greatest contributions to dimension 2 are FB type, and consistency.
The most interesting study finding is the higher incidence of females suffering a FB injury in ICD-934-935 in the Turkey dataset compared to that seen in the European dataset and also higher than that for all ICD locations within the Susy Safe register. The higher incidence of females tends to go against the belief that boys suffer higher FB injuries and needs to be further investigated.
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This study aims to identify specific patterns of risk in order to contribute to the prevention of Foreign Body (FB) injuries by assessing FB injury characteristics in Indian children.
Single center case series are included in the worldwide registry on Foreign Bodies Injuries www.susysafe.org. Statistical analysis performed on FB injury data (age, medical information, FB anatomical location (ICD) and characteristics, and situational data) from 252 Indian children (0–14 years) was used to identify FB risk patterns.
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^☆: This research was supported by a grant to the first author from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The authors thank Heather Rennie, Lorna McCleary, and the child gymnasts for help with preparing the videotapes; Jenn Smith for assistance with data collection; Corina Midget for assistance with data analysis; and the mothers for their enthusiastic participation.

^☆☆: Address correspondence and reprint requests to Barbara A. Morrongiello, Psychology Department, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario N1G 2W1, Canada.

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Regular ArticleMothers' Responses to Sons and Daughters Engaging in Injury-Risk Behaviors on a Playground: Implications for Sex Differences in Injury Rates☆,☆☆

Abstract

Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology

Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology

Clinical Psychology Review

Differential premises arising from the differential socialization of the sexes: Some conjectures

Child Development

The health of Canada's children: A profile

Video analysis of playground injury-risk situations

Research in Nursing and Health

Are sex differences in child motor activity level a function of sex differences in maturational status?

Child Development

Gender role stereotypes, expectancy effects, and parents' socialization of gender differences

Journal of Social Issues

Sex differences in toddlers' behavior and parental reaction

Developmental Psychology

The influence of sex of child on parental reactions to toddler children

Child Development

Parenting boys and girls

Sex differences in children's risk taking behavior

Child Development

Experimental control of psychosexuality

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London

Age and gender differences in school-age children's appraisal of injury risk

Journal of Pediatric Psychology

The psychology of sex differences.

Personality characteristics of the child accident repeater

Child Development

Accidental injuries

Regular Article
Mothers' Responses to Sons and Daughters Engaging in Injury-Risk Behaviors on a Playground: Implications for Sex Differences in Injury Rates☆,☆☆