The Associations Between Toddler and Parent Factors and Their Effect on Unintentional Injury

Supervision and its role in injury prevention is well established in research (Morrongiello, Kane, Zdzieborski, 2011). According to Peden et al. (2008) supervision as it relates to accident injury has been defined in past research as the caregiver’s visual and auditory focus upon the child, being within a close physical distance to prevent injury, and the level of the consistency of applied focus (such as constant, inconsistent, or lack of supervision): Caregivers’ patterns of supervision can fall anywhere within this range. Moreover, caregiver factors in terms of supervision have also been defined in terms of caregivers’ ability to judge hazardous situations, to communicate effectively with the children, the frequency of spoken and physical preventions (Peden et al., 2008), caregivers’ proactive or lack of proactive stance on preventing injuries (Morrongiello, Ondejko, & Littlejohn, 2003), and perceived child risk (females are perceived to be at greater risk to mothers than male children) (Morrongiello, Ondejko, & Littlejohn, 2004). The role of child temperament has also been researched. According to Vollrath (2006), children scoring high for impulsiveness and increased activity and self-restriction, such as children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), are more likely to sustain accidental injuries. Morrongiello et al. (2004) found that children who exhibit higher risk-taking behaviours have higher rates of injury. Research in how supervision interplays with child temperament such as increased activity, impulsiveness, and low self-restriction has been limited, although some progress has been made on understanding this relationship. Schwebel and Bounds (2003) found in first through third grade children with high impulsivity and low inhibitory control often overestimate their ability to perform a task, resulting in higher injury, especially when there was a lack of caregiver presence. When caregivers were present, caregivers were more able to accurately judge their children’s abilities, and the children also demonstrated more inhibitory control in the presence of caregivers. When children are left alone, their risk-taking behaviours increased, highlighting the important role of supervision in injury prevention. Moreover, as Morrongiello, Klemencic, and Corbett (2008) found, while high impulsivity, low inhibition, and increased activity were all attributes that are controllable with caregiver solution, risk-taking behavior associated with attention-seeking did not decrease as a risk factor in injury rates with supervision. However, toddler age children are particularly challenging to measure according to personality traits and level of supervision because of their maturity level (Shwebel & Bounds, 2003).

In order to understand the connection of caregiver factors and unintentional childhood injuries, the link between parental personality and parenting behaviour must be examined. Parenting personality traits and parenting behaviour is often described in terms of their children’s behaviours because parental personality traits contribute to productive or non-productive behaviours in their children (Patterson, 2002). This merits examination because of the previously established concept that ADHD-type behaviours, coupled with inconsistent supervision, is associated with higher rates of injury. Creech (2006) explained that it is important to remember personality traits are not the only avenue to explain parental behaviour. For example, much of parental behaviour is also situational. However, Belsky (1984) was the first to posit that parental personality traits had a distinctive influence on parenting behaviours and deserved its own platform and area of study. Even though there are a number of personality constructs, the Big Five (Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness) remain the most popular and comprehensive, and has been found to have validity and consistency, and personality constructs have demonstrated consistency over an eight to ten year period when tested (Costa & McCrae, 1995). In more recent years, the Big Five traits have been linked to certain parenting behaviours and resulting behaviours in their children, For instance, parents who rated themselves high on conscientiousness had adolescents who did not exhibit externalising behaviours as often as parents with adolescents who rated low on this personality trait (Oliver, Guerin, & Coffman, 2009). Prinzie et al. (2005) found in using the five factor model of behavior, they were able to indirectly link autonomy to elementary school-aged children’s behaviour problems and Emotional Stability and Conscientiousness to positive behavioral outcomes for children. Clarke (2006) studied parental personality, parenting behaviours, and evidenced ADHD type behaviours in their children. While Clarke did not find any correlation between the occurrences of ADHD in children and parental personality types, Clarke did find that mothers who had higher levels of Neuroticism were less consistent in parenting. Moreover, Openness and Conscientiousness were positively associated with more consistency in parenting. Nigg and Hinshaw (1998) found when fathers had higher levels of Neuroticism and Openess, and mothers had higher levels of Neuroticism, aggression in their children with ADHD was higher.

Studies regarding adolescent behaviour and parental personality traits are plentiful, most likely because adolescents are at a higher maturity level and are more able to verbalize their inner feelings and observations than younger children. However, research regarding parental personality traits and toddler behaviours are not as plentiful (Van Aken et al., 2007). Van Aken et al. studied personality traits upon toddlers. As they pointed out, even though their study was conducted in a culture different from other research studying the effects of parental personality traits with parenting behaviours, their findings, that low emotional parental stability, was associated with higher incidences of behavioural problems in children, such as ADHD type behaviours previously described in this study, and were more strongly associated with higher rates of childhood injuries.

References

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