| Parents are the primary agents for socializing their children about danger and safety; however very little if any research has attempted to model the relations among parenting beliefs, children's risk perceptions, and family risk communication within the context of stranger danger. This study examined the extent to which family relations, parenting behaviors, and perceived risk attitudes relate to how mothers talk with their 9- to 11-year-old children about risk in the context of stranger danger. Observed data were collected from video recordings of 61 mother-child dyads who engaged in a naturalistic conversation about a hypothetical stranger danger scenario. After the conversation, mothers and their children separately completed questionnaires assessing family environment, parenting beliefs, child anxiety, and perceived risk beliefs.;Results revealed that observed mother-child engagement, parent developmental beliefs, and mothers' perceived child vulnerability were negatively related to children's risk perceptions. Child gender differences were found indicating that mothers were observed asking their sons more questions than they asked of their daughters, and mothers of daughters were observed displaying more authoritative parenting than with their sons during these conversations. In addition, boys reported greater perceived risk- taking behavior compared to girls' scores. Generally, the pattern of results supports the notion that mother's perceived risk beliefs were negatively related to children's risk beliefs, whereas mother's risk-taking behavior was positively related to children's risk beliefs. Furthermore, family control and child anxiety were positively related to children's risk perceptions. In conclusion, this study begins the process of understanding how family socialization and perceived risk factors influence children's risk perceptions within the context of danger from strangers. |
