Sex Differences in Children's Risk-Taking Behavior

Ginsburg, Harvey J.; Miller, Shirley M.

doi:10.2307/1128985

Cited by 134 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…No gender differences in risk appraisal were found here, despite previous fi ndings that boys display higher levels of risk taking and experience more injuries than girls (Ginsburg & Miller, 1982;Kafry, 1982;Matheny, 1991;Zuckerman, 1979), and that girls report greater fear and less exhilaration in response to hazards than boys (Peterson et al 1997). This inconsistency between past and present fi ndings calls into question the possibility of a direct causal link between lower risk appraisals and increased risk-taking behavior.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 89%

Predictors of children's risk appraisals

DiLillo

Potts

Himes

1998

Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology

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This study explored variables associated with cognitive appraisals of physical risk in a sample of 62 elementary school children. Participants were presented with drawings of persons in three categories of risky situations typical of children, typical of adults, and typical of television plots. They were asked to judge the potential for physical injury in each. Results indicated that children tended to appraise risks in child, adult, and TV-plot risk situations differently, and that each type of situation was predicted by different variables. For the child situations, greater amounts of direct experience with the risk situation itself was found to be associated with lower risk appraisals. Appraisals of adult risk situations were predicted by age, with older children reporting lower risk appraisals. Sensation seeking, injury history, and weekday cartoon viewing all predicted lower risk appraisals of television situations. Implications of these fi ndings for knowledge about the origins of childhood injury are discussed.Unintentional injury has been cited as the leading cause of death each year among children between one and 19 years of age (Rodriguez, 1990). The personal and fi nancial costs of childhood injury and disability are devastating. Each year 600,000 children are hospitalized, 16 million receive emergency care, and 30,000 suffer permanent disability as a result of unintentional injury (Rodriguez, 1990). The estimated fi nancial cost of injury and disability in the U.S. is $158 billion annually (Rice & Mackenzie, 1989). Figures such as these prompted the National Academy of Sciences to conclude that "injury is the principle public health problem in America today; it affects primarily the young and will touch one of every three Americans this year" (National Academy of Sciences, 1985, p. v).Despite the magnitude of the problem and repeated calls for additional research (e.g., Spielberger & Frank, 1992;Routh, 1997), relatively few studies have explored potential behavioral and psychological mechanisms that may underlie children's unintentional injuries. Particularly understudied has been children's internal processing of physically risky situations. For instance, antecedent affective and cognitive responses to physical risks may impact the extent to which injury occurs. In the face of potentially dangerous situations, these reactions may infl uence children's decisions whether to take risks that could DEV PSY 19 (1998) lead to injury. Evidence supporting this possibility comes from correlational data examining relationships between children's self-reported emotional responses to various kinds of risk and their actual risk behaviors (Miller & Byrnes, 1997). Specifi c to injury, children who report a sense of exhilaration in response to physical risks have been found to take more actual physical risks than those who respond to risks with fear (Cook, Peterson, & DiLillo [in press]). Cognitive and emotional reactions to risks may play an even larger role in the injury process with increasing age,...

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 89%

Predictors of children's risk appraisals

DiLillo

Potts

Himes

1998

Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology

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“…Other studies have identified differences in risk taking behaviour of boys and girls (Ginsburg and Miller 1982;Block 1983;Morrongiello and Dawber 1998;Morrongiello and Dawber 2000;Morrongiello and Hogg 2004). The findings of our study also show that parents describe boys as more boisterous and more likely to engage in rough play.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Maternal perceptions of supervision in pre-school-aged children: a qualitative approach to understanding differences between families living in affluent and disadvantaged areas

Ablewhite

Kendrick

Watson

et al. 2014

Prim Health Care Res Dev

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Ian (2015) Maternal perceptions of supervision in preschool-aged children: a qualitative approach to understanding differences between families living in affluent and disadvantaged areas. Primary Health Care Research and Development, 16 (4 A note on versions:The version presented here may differ from the published version or from the version of record. If you wish to cite this item you are advised to consult the publisher's version. Please see the repository url above for details on accessing the published version and note that access may require a subscription.For more information, please contact eprints@nottingham.ac.uk 1 Maternal perceptions of supervision in pre-school age children:A qualitative approach to understanding differences between families living in affluent and disadvantaged areas Abstract Aim: To explore maternal perceptions of supervision and childhood unintentional injury in order to develop understanding and explanation for differences in unintentional injury rates between an advantaged and disadvantaged area.Background: Unintentional injury is the second cause of mortality and a significant cause of morbidity in the 0-4 year age group. Children living in socio-economic disadvantage are at a greater risk of unintentional injury than their more affluent counter parts. Methods:Qualitative study using semi-structured interviews; content data analysis was undertaken. Participants included thirty seven mothers with a child aged less than five years; 16 living in an area of disadvantage (and high rate of childhood unintentional injury) and 21 living in an advantaged area (and low rate of childhood unintentional injury).Findings: Parents in both areas described the importance of parental supervision in reducing child unintentional injury risks. Parents in both areas used listening as a supervision strategy. Parents in both areas described how 'when the child goes quiet' that is a cue for them to make a visual check on the child. Listening was used more for boys than girls in both areas, but parents in the advantaged area used listening as a supervision strategy more frequently than those in the disadvantaged area. Parents described supervision strategies as being shaped by child character and age rather than child gender. Parents in both areas described similar strategies for managing distractions. An important difference was found with regard to older siblings; parents living in the advantaged area described older siblings as an injury risk to younger children. Parents in the disadvantaged area described older siblings as providing some supervision for younger children. Parents living in disadvantaged circumstances may face greater challenges with regard to supervision than parents living in advantaged circumstances and this may partly explain differences in injury risk.

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“…Hall and Halberstadt (1980) In research done by Burge (1982), findings also indicate that strong ma.le sex-role identity is related to a positive self-concept. These findings concur with studies done by Berzins, Welling, and Weiter (1978); Zalk and Katz (1978), and Ginsberg and Miller (1982). A boy who identified with the male sex-role felt better about him.self.…”

supporting

confidence: 91%

The development of the self-concept in the young child

Mascall¹

2000

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Sex Differences in Children's Risk-Taking Behavior

Cited by 134 publications

References 8 publications

Predictors of children's risk appraisals

Predictors of children's risk appraisals

Maternal perceptions of supervision in pre-school-aged children: a qualitative approach to understanding differences between families living in affluent and disadvantaged areas

The development of the self-concept in the young child

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