Parental supervision of school-age children at home: “I think he is in his room playing a video game”

Abstract

Objectives: Using a prospective design, this research examined supervision of young elementary-school children at home and how this relates to child injury, parent permissiveness, and children’s risk-taking propensity. Methods: Mothers reported children’s history of injuries and recorded home supervision over a 2-month interval on a weekly basis. Children independently completed diaries about daily events, including injuries. Results: Children spent 24% of time alone, mostly supervised intermittently or not at all. Parent permissiveness was associated with increased time unsupervised, while children’s risk-taking propensity was associated with decreased time unsupervised. Greater direct supervision was associated with fewer injuries, while more indirect and non-supervision time emerged as risk factors and were associated with more frequent injury. Conclusions: These results extend those from preschool-aged children and suggest that caregiver supervision influences risk of injury across a broad age range throughout childhood. Implications for children’s safety are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)