DARING AND RISKTAKING PRESCHOOLERS: BEHAVIORAL ANTECEDENTS AND DESCRIPTORS.

Description

The purpose of this study was to investigate the antecedents and characteristics of daring and risk-taking behaviors in preschool age children. A hedonic model served as a guide, linking three major propositions: infant sensory experiences, toddler interpersonal experiences, and the preschoolers' expression of daring and risky behavior. The model proposes that children who experience arousal as pleasant would engage in daily activities in a more outgoing or daring manner. The study children were 74 children, most Caucasian, 39 males, 35 females, and their parents from a wide range of socioeconomic strata. Each subject was followed from birth to five years of age. Data were gathered using a multimethod approach at 2 days of age, 12, 18, 30, and 54 months. Eight hypotheses were investigated: (1) an infant sensory and behavioral response, called avidity, will be related to preschool behavior, with low avid responders more daring and risky than high; (2) outgoing preschool children will be more daring and risky than inhibited or shy children; (3) secure preschool children will be more daring and risky than insecure. Daring and risk taking children will be: (4) more impulsive; (5) have higher accident and injury rates; (6) be more apt to be boys than girls, than low daring non-risk-takers; and (7) children's report of these behaviors will be congruent with maternal report; but (8) there will be no relationship between the child's and parents' sensation seeking behavior. Statements one, three and four were not supported. Some support was found for two, six and eight, while five and seven were fully supported in this study. It appears that the antecedent characteristics of avidity and security may be mediated via social interaction (shyness) by 4.5 years of age. Gender was a significant predictor of behavior leading to accidents and injury (boys $>$ girls), with cognitive ability as a co-dependent predictor for boys. Daring and risk-taking behavior was found not to be a unitary characteristic of the child, as six factors emerged from a principal component analysis of the child's self-report. This finding complemented the nine-factor profile of risk-taking in children obtained from maternal report. Results are discussed in light of their implications for prevention of childhood injuries and misadventures.

Subjects