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The role of risk-taking and errors in children's liability to unintentional injury

Richard Rowe1, Barbara Maughan

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TP, UK. r.rowe@sheffield.ac.uk

Accident; Analysis and Prevention
|June 23, 2009
PubMed

Insights

Understanding childhood injury requires distinguishing between errors and risk-taking behaviors. This study found both independently relate to injury history and mediate links between behavioral issues and unintentional injuries in children.

Area of Science:

  • Child Psychology
  • Pediatric Injury Prevention
  • Behavioral Science

Background:

  • Childhood injuries have heterogeneous causes, with potential distinctions between risk-taking and error-related processes.
  • Understanding these distinct processes is crucial for effective injury prevention strategies in children.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if errors represent a distinct process from risk-taking in children.
  • To determine if errors and risk-taking mediate the relationship between emotional/behavioral problems and unintentional injuries.

Main Methods:

  • Developed and validated the parent-report Children's Injury Related Behaviour (CIRB) questionnaire for errors and risk-taking.
  • Utilized principal components analysis on data from 499 children aged 4-11 years.
  • Examined associations between risk, error, emotional/behavioral problems, and injury history.

Main Results:

  • A two-factor solution confirmed distinct scales for risk and error with good psychometric properties.
  • Both risk and error scales were independently associated with injury history.
  • Errors correlated with conduct problems, emotional problems, and hyperactivity; risk-taking with conduct problems and hyperactivity.
  • Risk-taking and errors explained the association between conduct problems/hyperactivity and injury involvement.

Conclusions:

  • The distinction between risk-taking and errors is significant in understanding childhood unintentional injuries.
  • These findings have implications for targeted research and interventions aimed at reducing pediatric injuries.

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