Assessment of injury risk in young children: a preliminary study of the injury behavior checklist.

There is a need for practical and cost-effective measures of the behavioral characteristics that predict subsequent injury in children. Previous research has focused on the predictive power of child problem behavior (e.g., hyperactivity, aggression, noncompliance) and has found reliable, but relatively weak associations with injury frequency. In an effort to improve upon this level of prediction using child behavioral measures, a care-giver report checklist of specific "risky" behaviors was developed for toddlers and preschoolers, called the Injury Behavior Checklist (IBC). A preliminary test of the reliability and validity of this instrument was undertaken in a sample of middle-class families (N = 253). Results indicated that the IBC has acceptable reliability (internal consistency = .87; 1-month test-retest correlation = .81) and is able to significantly discriminate children with two or more injuries from those with one or none (p less than .001). Multiple regression analyses indicated that the IBC was a better predictor of injury than parent-reported levels of child problem behavior using the Conners Parent Rating Scale.