The Impact of Children's Temperament on How Parents Resolve Safety Disagreements during Preadolescence

Abstract

Objectives: Parents play an important role in keeping their children safe. However, this becomes more difficult during preadolescence as children seek greater autonomy away from the direct supervision of adults. The current study focused on preadolescent youth (10-13 years) and examined parent-child disagreements about safety, with a focus on determining if child temperament attributes moderate the relation between how parents learn of these and resolve these disagreements. Methods: A short-term longitudinal design was used. Parents and children retrospectively recalled safety disagreements together and then independently completed questionnaires about these. Parents then tracked disagreements over 1 month. Results: The behavioral attributes of inhibitory control and risk-taking propensity both moderated the relationships between parental source of knowledge of safety disagreements and subsequent methods of resolution. Conclusion: Safety-promotion messaging for parents of preadolescents may need to be tailored based on child attributes to maximize effectiveness.