A longitudinal study of parents’ home-safety practices to prevent injuries during infancy

Abstract

Unintentional injury represents a significant health threat to children, and infancy marks a particularly vulnerable stage. This multi-method study (questionnaire, diary) measured parents’ ( N = 143) use of three popular home-safety practices (teaching about safety, environment modification to reduce access to hazards, supervision) and child injury rates at two stages of motor development during infancy (sitting, walking). Associations between these three safety practices and parental beliefs (protectiveness needed, perceived benefits of the child experiencing minor injuries) were examined, as was the effectiveness of these three practices to prevent injury. Results revealed that different parental beliefs were associated with implementing different safety strategies at each motor development stage. Strategies were differentially effective depending on mobility status of the infant, with supervision being the only strategy that was effective to prevent injury at both motor development stages. Implications for developing safety messages to promote parents’ injury-prevention strategies are discussed.