A Study of Infants' Injury-Risk Behaviours at Various Stages of Motor Development: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract

In Canada, unintentional injury represents the leading cause of death among young children. Infants remain particularly vulnerable as they are gaining access to hazards through increased mobility, yet unable to properly assess and avoid risk. The current study examined the rate and type of injury-risk behaviours, how these relate to injury-risk, and parent supervision patterns, with the focus on three stages of motor-development (sitting, crawling, and walking). Eighty-five parent-infant dyads were followed over the course of an average 6 months. Results found stability in infant risk-taking over development, with these rates predicting infant injury-risk across development. The majority of injury-risk behaviours occurred while infants’ were within view of supervisors but with infants out of reach about 55% of this time. The significance of these results for understanding infant injury-risk is discussed.