Factors that Influence Mothers’ Use of Safety Rules with Their Preschoolers

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Rochester. School of Nursing. Dept. of Health Practice Research, 2010.Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death in American children. Despite public health efforts to reduce environmental hazards, injuries have replaced diseases as the principal cause of mortality and morbidity in children. The epidemiology of childhood injury is well documented but there is little research evidence linking maternal childrearing beliefs to parental safety behaviors. The purpose of this descriptive correlational study was to explore the relationship between maternal childrearing beliefs and the use of rules among mothers of preschool children as well as to examine the influence of other contextual factors that may influence this relationship by testing a theory-driven conceptual model derrived from the literature. The sample consisted of 278 dyads, comprised of mothers and their three year old children. Results indicated that there was a small, but significant relationship between maternal childrearing beliefs and the use of safety rules and rules in general. However, the relationship differed depending on the type of childrearing belief. In this sample, restrictive/authoritarian beliefs were related to overall rule insistence, reminders about both safety rules and rules in general, and the endorsement of more rules overall. Nurturance/authoritative beliefs were related to safety rule insistence and the endorsement of fewer rules overall. Contextual variables, such as child temperament, parenting experience and social support moderated the relationship between maternal childrearing beliefs and the use of rules, but in differing ways depending on the type of childrearing belief. Based on these results, it appears that in a given context, mothers’ use of safety rules may operate differently compared to the use of rules in general. This has not been previously demonstrated. The study results provide some evidence of a link between maternal childrearing beliefs and subsequent parental safety behaviors as well as the influence of contextual variables on the relationship. These results highlight the need for continued research examining the influence of multiple risk factors on parental safety behaviors using two and three way interactions