The impact of parents’ fear of strangers and perceptions of informal social control on children's independent mobility

Abstract

Declines in children's independent mobility are commonly attributed to parents' fear of strangers, yet few empirical studies have investigated this relationship. We examined: (1) the impact of parents' fear of strangers on children's independent mobility; and (2) whether informal social control (i.e., parents' confidence that other residents would look out for local children) mitigated any association. Gender stratified logistic regression models tested these associations for 10-12 year-olds and their parents (n=1231) in Perth, Australia. For girls, parental fear of strangers was associated with lower odds of independent mobility (OR=0.71, p=0.002), and informal social control and other social and built environment variables had little attenuating influence. This pattern was consistent for boys; however odds ratios were lower and statistical significance weaker. Initiatives that target parental fears combined with interventions that normalise children's walking may help increase independent mobility.

Survey of patients of the Tver region of Russia regarding maggots and maggot therapy

“…Perhaps this discrepancy is because of cultural differences that lead men to have a greater exposure to maggots or simply a cultural pressure to suppress feelings of disgust. It is well accepted that cultural upbringing plays a major role in what we consider frightening and disgusting . The whole idea of cultural pressures or experiences playing a role in the differences observed between our male and female subjects should prompt future researchers to attempt to associate differences in attitudes with individual demographic and experiential histories.…”

The Effect of the Social and Physical Environment on Children’s Independent Mobility to Neighborhood Destinations

“…While it appears parent's increased concerns about traffic danger may correspond to evidence of children being at greater risk from traffic accidents, 45 concerns about stranger danger have been shown to be substantially unfounded 46 and largely fueled by a pervasive culture of parental fear and over-protection. 47 Moreover, parent's perceptions of neighborhood safety may contribute to a social norm that parents shouldn't allow their children (especially those still attending primary school) to move to and from places without adult supervision (ie, that responsible parenting equates to constant supervision of children).…”

Why do children not play in nearby nature? Results from a Norwegian survey

“…Internationally, one sees that outside play experiences are now limited for many children because of excessive fear of risk amongst adults (Brussoni, Olsen, Pike, & Sleet, 2012;Foster, Villanueva, Wood, Christian, & Giles-Corti, 2014;Natural England, 2009;Valentine & McKendrck, 1997). An indepth study from England shows that, for some young girls, woodlands were seen as 'out of bounds' due to parental concerns about safety issues (Milligan & Bingley, 2007).…”