Safety measures taken by Norwegian mothers.

OBJECTIVES

To identify predictors of the adoption of safety measures by mothers of 2 year old children.

SETTING

26 municipalities in the county of Sogn and Fjordane, and four municipalities in the county of Møre and Romsdal in Norway.

METHODS

Data was collected by questionnaires mailed to all mothers of 2 year olds in the 30 municipalities (response rate 70.7%, n = 1233). Information was obtained on socioeconomic variables, the child's injury history, adoption of safety measures, and variables describing mother's health related beliefs (parent health locus of control) and the value of health (health value).

RESULTS

Income, municipality of residence, age of the mother, and marital status were significantly associated with the reported adoption of safety measures. High income and older, married mothers were positively associated with the adoption of safety measures.

CONCLUSIONS

The significant effect of income on the adoption of safety measures, underlined by the fact that safety measures were less often adopted by young single mothers, may indicate that the implementation of structural measures such as loan schemes and subsidies, are necessary to increase the adoption of child safety measures. The lack of association between education and social cognitive beliefs, respectively, and the adoption of safety measures, offer less optimism for traditional health education initiatives.