Adolescent and adult mothers' perceptions of hazardous situations for their children

To determine if young and inexperienced parents perceive potentially dangerous situations as less hazardous for children than do adult parents.

Sixty expectant adolescent mothers and 45 adult mothers viewed photographs of infants and children in a variety of potentially hazardous situations. Using a 10-point scale, participants estimated the likelihood of injury, the anticipated level of harm, and their own likelihood of intervention in each situation.

Expectant adolescent mothers were significantly less likely than adult mothers to report intervention in potentially dangerous situations. Previous child care training and experience increased their likelihood of intervention in such hazardous situations. Expectant adolescent mothers perceived greater likelihood of injury for the target child than did adult mothers.

Adolescent parents with little child care experience should be alerted to the importance of intervening in potentially hazardous situations for infants and young children.