Related Experiment Video

Updated: Nov 19, 2025

Measurement of Fronto-limbic Activity Using an Emotional Oddball Task in Children with Familial High Risk for Schizophrenia
13:08

Measurement of Fronto-limbic Activity Using an Emotional Oddball Task in Children with Familial High Risk for Schizophrenia

Published on: December 2, 2015

9.2K

The Study of Developmental Risk Factors for Early Fire Involvement

Ayah Ellithy1, Lisa D Hawke2,3, Ashley Ward4

  • 1Margaret and Wallace McCain Centre for Child, Youth and Family Mental Health, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada.

Child Psychiatry and Human Development
|February 3, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Young children engaging in firesetting behaviors, often driven by curiosity, show links to externalizing symptoms and psychosocial risks. Early identification of these factors is crucial for intervention and prevention strategies.

Area of Science:

  • Child Psychology
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Forensic Psychology

Background:

  • Child firesetting is a complex behavior with potential negative impacts.
  • Understanding the risk factors associated with firesetting in young children is essential for developing effective interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify mental health, fire-specific, and psychosocial risk factors in children aged 2-6 years who engage in firesetting.
  • To lay the foundation for intervention and prevention models for childhood firesetting.

Main Methods:

  • Caregiver-reported data on 57 children's demographics, firesetting behaviors, mental health symptoms, and family history.
  • Analysis of firesetting motivations, methods, and associated behaviors.

Main Results:

  • Most firesetting incidents involved curiosity-driven use of lighters/matches on small objects by male children aged 2-6.
  • Higher frequency of firesetting correlated with externalizing symptoms, accomplices, media exposure, and prior discipline for firesetting.

Conclusions:

  • Childhood firesetting is associated with significant psychosocial risk factors.
  • Early identification of these risk factors is critical for developing targeted prevention and intervention programs.

Keywords:
Child developmentFiresettingMental healthPreschoolerRisk factor

More Related Videos

Author Spotlight: Exploring Microglial Interactions with Stress-Response Circuitry Using the Limited Bedding and Nesting Model04:20

Author Spotlight: Exploring Microglial Interactions with Stress-Response Circuitry Using the Limited Bedding and Nesting Model

Published on: July 12, 2024

2.1K
Assessment and Evaluation of the High Risk Neonate: The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale19:15

Assessment and Evaluation of the High Risk Neonate: The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale

Published on: August 25, 2014

87.0K

Related Concept Videos

Socioemotional Development during Infancy01:30

Socioemotional Development during Infancy

Socio-emotional development in infancy is primarily shaped by early emotional responses and social connections, with temperament playing a central role. Temperament refers to the consistent patterns in an individual's emotional and behavioral responses, observable even in infancy. By examining temperament, researchers can better understand an infant's unique ways of interacting with the world, influencing subsequent personality and socio-emotional growth.
Primary Temperament Types
243
Erikson's Theory on Socioemotional Development during Childhood01:28

Erikson's Theory on Socioemotional Development during Childhood

Erik Erikson, a stage theorist, adapted Freud's theory to emphasize social factors in personality development throughout life, a concept known as psychosocial development. Unlike Freud, who focused on early childhood, Erikson believed that personality evolves across eight life stages, each marked by a specific challenge or "crisis." Successful resolution of each stage fosters competence, while failure may lead to feelings of inadequacy.
The first four of Erikson's eight...
515
Relationship with Parents: Attachment01:28

Relationship with Parents: Attachment

Parent-child interactions lay the foundation for how we understand relationships throughout life. These interactions are not uniform across families; instead, they are shaped by a range of environmental, emotional, and behavioral factors unique to each caregiver-child dynamic. Social psychologists study these early relationships to understand how patterns formed in infancy influence social functioning and interpersonal behavior in adulthood.Attachment Theory and Early Relational ModelsJohn...
110
Psychosexual Theory of Development01:14

Psychosexual Theory of Development

Sigmund Freud's psychosexual theory of development suggests that early childhood experiences significantly shape personality and behavior. Freud proposed that development is discontinuous, occurring in five distinct stages, each defined by a focus on different erogenous zones. He believed that failure to resolve the conflicts specific to each stage successfully could result in fixation, potentially influencing behavior as adults.
The Five Stages of Psychosexual Development
Freud's psychosexual...
1.3K
Factors Affecting Illness01:18

Factors Affecting Illness

When a person's physical, emotional, intellectual, social development or spiritual functioning is compromised, this deviation from a healthy normal state is called illness. Illness creates stress that in turn harms individuals. Irritation, anger, denial, hopelessness, and fear are behavioral and emotional changes an individual experiences in the phases of illness. A variety of factors influence a person's health and well-being.
For instance, risk factors are connected to illness,...
4.8K
Relationship with Other Adult Family Members and Siblings01:29

Relationship with Other Adult Family Members and Siblings

Other adult family members and siblings play a crucial role in shaping children’s social and emotional development. While parents or primary caregivers are often the central figures in early attachment and socialization, other adults in a child’s life, such as grandparents, aunts, and uncles, can significantly influence developmental outcomes. These influences depend on each adult’s personality and may help compensate when a primary caregiver is emotionally distant or...
85