Teaching parenting skills could be an effective way to reduce childhood injuries, a new review of studies suggests, especially for disadvantaged families.
Families that received parent training had a lower risk of injury to their children compared to families that did not. Moreover, several studies found fewer hazards, a safer home environment for children and more safety practices in families that had undergone such training.
“We felt this review was particularly important because in industrialized countries injuries are the leading cause of death in childhood,” said lead author Dr. Denise Kendrick, at the division of primary care at the University of Nottingham in England. “There is also evidence to show that poorer children are much more likely to sustain a childhood injury than children from more privileged backgrounds, and that the gap between the two is widening.”
The review included 15 studies, mostly involving families at high-risk for injury to the children. Family teaching mainly took place in the homes and covered a wide variety of topics in addition to safety, such as child development and parenting skills.
Teaching specific to home safety included storing poisons out of reach of the child, having a working smoke alarm and using electric socket covers and safety gates. Some studies also looked at the use of child safety seats in cars.
The review appears in the latest issue of The Cochrane Library , a publication of The Cochrane Collaboration, an international organization that evaluates medical research. Systematic reviews draw evidence-based conclusions about medical practice after considering both the content and quality of existing medical trials on a topic.
“Our key finding was that providing additional parenting support to families that are experiencing adversity can reduce the number of hazards, improve the home environment and reduce the likelihood of their children sustaining injuries,” Kendrick said. “Given the extent of the problem of childhood injuries, it was surprising that there were not more interventions that target this as part of a broader package of care provided to parents.”