The role of child supervision as a risk or protective factor for childhood injury in active play

Abstract

Introduction: Activity related childhood injury is a worldwide health problem. Inadequate supervision has been linked with injury death and hospitalisation, but the paucity of research has not fully clarified the role of supervision. This study aims to facilitate understanding of parental supervision in active play, specifically in relation to child injury risk. The project is a work in progress, this abstract describes tasks completed to date, and outlines remaining steps required. Methodology: Naturalistic observation and self-report questionnaires were conducted to assess child supervision in play environments and to enable triangulation of collected data. Supervision was categorised based on a modification of the supervision measurement tool developed by Saluja and colleagues. Supervision behaviour was observed in three public child play environments. Study participants were supervisor/child pairs, where children were estimated to be aged 2–14 years and were engaged in recreational play. Results: Preliminary findings from initial data collection will be reported. Descriptive statistical analysis of the collected data will be presented and triangulation results summarised. It is anticipated that findings will provide evidence of the function of supervision as a risk and protective factor for children's injuries. Conclusion: The results of this study will provide important information for the establishment of methodology for investigating the role of supervision in child injury prevention and may serve as a guide for future development of injury and drowning prevention strategies and parental educational programs aimed to reduce children's unintentional injuries in these contexts.