Mothers' anticipation and prevention of unintentional injury to young children in the home.

Investigated anticipation and prevention of children's unintentional injuries in the home. 150 mothers of 1-, 2-, and 3-year-old children kept weekly diaries of anticipated injuries and unanticipated injuries/near injuries to their child. Mothers anticipated between 57 and 67% of all injury events, a majority when the child was in the same room as the injury-causing agent prior to interacting with it. Few anticipated injuries led to injury. In these cases no significant differences were found depending on child's age and sex. In contrast, mothers of younger children most frequently reported preventing injury by physically restricting or moving the child away and by changing the environment, whereas mothers of older children more frequently engaged in teaching.