Unintentional injury is the leading cause of death in American children aged 1-18. The subject of considerable epidemiological inquiry, study of children’s injuries from a psychological perspective remains somewhat novel and rather atheoretical. In this paper, we explore a contextual perspective on the understanding of the psychological aspects of the etiology of children’s unintentional injuries. Injury is viewed as embedded in dynamic proximal and distal contexts in which children play an influential role. Multiple facets and layers of context for unintentional injuries, as well as children’s role in selecting contextual environments, are examined and illustrated with examples.
