Children's Unintentional Injuries and Gender: Differentiation by Environmental and Psychosocial Aspects

Abstract

Boys' higher risks for childhood unintentional injuries is an epidemiological fact that emerges during infancy and increases throughout childhood. Correlates of gender-related injury differences were explored by examining male and female differences for injuries within 90 opposite-sex twin pairs. Twins were followed from infancy to 3 years. Characteristics of child, home/family environments, and mother were assessed. Among the twin pairs, boys had a higher number of injuries than the girl co-twins. Gender contrasts indicated that girls' injury liability was increased for higher activity level. By comparison, boys' liability was increased for higher activity level, less focused attention, more noise-confusion in the household, less family organization-control, and mothers' being less sociable or more preoccupied. Results suggest that higher injury rates for boys accrue from arange of psychosocial and environmental influences wider than that identified for girls.