The roles of age, gender, inhibitory control, and parental supervision in children's pedestrian safety.
OBJECTIVE
Thousands of American children are injured or killed each year as pedestrians, but behavioral factors in pedestrian injury etiology remain poorly understood. We examined the roles of children's individual differences (age, gender, and inhibitory control) and parental supervision in children's pedestrian behaviors.


METHODS
Using the pretend road method, a sample of 85 children and 26 adults crossed a pretend crosswalk set adjacent to a real road. Safety of crossing the pretend road was determined based on actual traffic on the real road. Adults also crossed the real road.


RESULTS
Adults' behavior on the real road paralleled that on the pretend road, supporting validity of the method. On the pretend road, younger children, boys, and children with less behavioral control engaged in riskier pedestrian behaviors. Children with less behavioral control responded more noticeably to increases in parental supervision.


CONCLUSIONS
Results are discussed in relation to children's development and injury prevention.
Barton
Benjamin K
BK
Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA. bbarton@uoguelph.ca
Schwebel
David C
DC
D000056:Accident Prevention; D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D033182:Intention; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting; D012449:Safety; D016138:Walking; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000517:prevention & control