Stopping Young Risk Takers


ping Young Risk Takers

 by: News Canada

(NC)-In Canada, more child deaths are due to unintentional injuries than to all other causes combined. Furthermore, injuries are a primary cause of children's hospitalizations and visits to emergency rooms. But we don't really understand why children take risks that could lead to injury. Dr. Barbara Morrongiello and her team at the University of Guelph are studying the way emotion-based factors influence children's risk-taking decisions. They predict that children who feel exhilarated by risk taking, as opposed to fearful, will be more likely to take dangerous risks. This research could help health care professionals prevent childhood injuries.

Dr. Morrongiello's research is being funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). CIHR is Canada's preeminent health research catalyst and is funded by the government of Canada. An exciting new concept, CIHR is modernizing and transforming the health research enterprise in Canada.

To learn more about CIHR please visit: www.cihr.ca, e-mail: info@ cihr.ca or write to: CIHR, 410 Laurier Avenue West, Ottawa ON K1A 0W9.