Using an ecologically valid task that tapped normative recreational
activities (bicycling, rollerblading) the present findings add
to the accumulating literature that children show risk compensation
when wearing safety gear. The extent of risk compensation,
however, was found to vary based on children’s level of experience
with the task and their level of sensation seeking. Previous
research has demonstrated that children engage in greater risk
taking in tasks with which they have more experience (Lasenby-
Lessard et al., in press; Morrongiello et al., 2004a,b; Morrongiello
and Sedore, 2005). However, the findings that children engage in
greater risk compensation when engaged in high than low experience
activities, and that sensation seeking moderates this relation,
are unique to this study; each of these findings will be discussed in
turn.