Abstract

Objective: To investigate whether one can differentiate injured and uninjured young children based on child behavioural attributes or indices of caregiver supervision.

Method: A matched case–control design was used in which case participants were children presenting to an emergency department for treatment for an injury and age/sex matched control participants presented for illness-related reasons. During structured phone interviews about supervision parents reported on general supervisory practices (standardised questionnaire) and specific practices corresponding to time of injury (cases) or the last time their child engaged in the activity that incited their match’s injury (controls). Parents also reported on child behavioural attributes that have been linked to child risk taking in prior research (inhibitory control, sensation seeking).

Results: Results revealed no group differences in child behavioural attributes; however, the control group received more supervision both in general (OR = 4.82, 95% CI 1.89 to 12.33) and during the specified activity that led to injury in cases (OR = 5.38, 95% CI 2.13 to 13.58).

Conclusion: These findings confirm past speculation that caregiver supervision influences children’s risk of medically-attended injury and highlight the importance of targeting supervision in child-injury prevention interventions.