The role of fathers in toddlers' unintentional injury risk

David C Schwebel1, Carl M Brezausek

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 35294, USA. schwebel@uab.edu

Insights

Fathers

Area of Science:

  • Child development
  • Pediatric injury prevention
  • Family studies

Background:

  • Maternal parenting and supervision are known to reduce children's unintentional injury risk.
  • Limited research has explored the specific role of fathers in preventing unintentional injuries in children.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of fathers in protecting children from unintentional injury.
  • To identify paternal and maternal factors associated with children's unintentional injury risk.

Main Methods:

  • A prospective longitudinal study tracked 181 toddlers from 6 to 36 months of age.
  • Predictor variables included child characteristics, parental individual differences, and parenting factors.

Main Results:

  • Fathers' reported family employment gains were the strongest predictor of children's unintentional injury risk.
  • Other paternal and maternal factors showed modest associations with injury risk.

Conclusions:

  • Findings highlight the importance of considering fathers' roles in child injury prevention.
  • Further research is needed to understand paternal influences on child safety.
Abstract

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