Cognitive Characteristics as Predictors of Children's Understanding of Safety and Prevention

Children's level of causal reasoning and cognitive style were considered as possible predictors of their understanding of safety and prevention. Individual interviews conducted with 112 children, aged 3 through 8 years, indicated that the ability to differentiate between safe and unsafe situations occurred prior to the ability to specify preventive measures. An accurate understanding of safety and prevention was related to higher levels of causal reasoning and to a reflective cognitive style. However, multiple regression analyses revealed that causal reasoning eliminated cognitive style as a significant predictor. In comparison to 6- to 8-year-olds, the variability in 3- to 5-year-olds' performance on the predictor measures explained more of the variance in their safety and prevention scores. These differences are discussed in terms of children's stage of development and the higher national rate of accidents among preschoolers compared to school-age children. Implications of the results for safety education programs and directions for future research are discussed.