Safety first, children

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-03/uoi-sfc031814.php

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 20-Mar-2014

Contact: Richard Lewis
University of Iowa

Safety first, children

University of Iowa study examines how parents can teach their children to be safer

As parents, we've all been there: Watching our children teeter on a chair, leap from the sofa, or careen about the playground, fearing the worst. And, we all wonder, how can we teach them to be safer?

Such was the goal of a team of researchers at the University of Iowa, who analyzed in a new study how children take stock of various real-life scenarios, and how mothers can help them assess potential hazards. Their conclusions: Children and mothers regularly don't see eye-to-eye on situational dangers. Because of that, it's critical that mothers explain why a situation is dangerous, beyond simply administering a verbal slap on the wrist.

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"Saying to your child, 'Don't do that' or 'Stop' or 'Be careful' doesn't really work," Plumert says. "I mean, it's okay to say that, but the next step is to say why not. You shouldn't assume that your child knows why not, even if it seems obvious to you."

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Mothers used one tactic especially effectively: They pointed out the dangerous elements in the situation, and explained how those current dangers could cause the child to get hurt. The researchers were initially surprised that mothers focused more on the present features rather than pointing out potential outcomes, but think it's because parents use the present – the danger – to help the child understand the potential outcome – getting injured.

Still, there are some children who are prone to injury, no matter what. These are the risk-takers, and the researchers learned that these children are more likely to view a situation as less dangerous than their peers.

"It's like these kids discount the danger in the situations," says Elizabeth O'Neal, a third-year graduate student in psychology and corresponding author on the paper. "I think, for them, there's always this competition between being cautious and having fun."

These children likely need more parental explanation to counteract their hell-bent-for-leather inclinations, the researchers say.

"In terms of intervention, the mother-child conversation might be especially important for these risk-takers than with the cautious kids," Plumert notes.

O'Neal and Plumert are the paper's sole authors. There was no outside funding for the research.