Journal of Pediatric Psychology () pp. –, doi:./jpepsy/jsi Advance Access publication March ,

Objective To examine how maternal and child characteristics interact to moderate injury rate and injury severity for young children. Methods In this study, 149 mothers reported their toddlers ’ injuries over a 6-month period during biweekly interviews. Mothers completed ques-tionnaires assessing parenting behaviors, psychological characteristics, and their children’s injury-relevant behaviors. Results Maternal locus of control was found to moderate the association between children’s risky behavior and child injury rate. Specifically, an external locus of control was associated with increased child injury rate for high-risk but not for low-risk children. Conclusion These findings illuminate the potential importance of parental locus of control in moderating high-risk injury-relevant behavior. Key words unintentional injury; children; parental locus of control; prevention; risky behavior. Although childhood deaths from unintentional injury declined by 45.3 % between 1979 and 1996, uninten-tional injuries remain the leading cause of death for chil-dren in the United States (Centers for Disease Control