Home Fire Safety and Related Behaviors Among Parents of Preschoolers

Abstract

Burns are one of the major causes of injury for children under five. Given the importance of fire-related injuries in young children, this paper focuses upon the examination of parental fire related safety behaviors in one southern state. Mothers were asked questions about such practices as checking the temperature of hot water, having a smoke detector and fire extinguisher in the home, and having a fire escape plan. Data were collected through random digit dial telephone surveys with 1247 mothers of children under five. A variety of social, demographic, situational and perceptual variables were employed as possible predictors of variation in parental safety behavior. In general, socioeconomic status, as reflected by income, education or race was an important predictor of all of the fire safety behaviors. For half of the behaviors, risk perception variables were also important. Coping was a significant but weak predictor of many of the behaviors.