Keeping baby safe: A randomized trial of a parent training program for infant and toddler motor vehicle injury prevention

Abstract

Motor vehicle crashes are responsible for much death and disability among infants and toddlers. This study evaluated Keeping Baby Safe In and Around the Car, a multimedia DVD designed to improve knowledge about car seat installation among parents of infants and toddlers. The randomized controlled trial was conducted with 195 parents of children aged 0–24 months. Effective car seat use was evaluated via a written knowledge quiz and car seat simulation. Results from analyses of covariance models show that posttest scores for the intervention condition were significantly higher than those of the control condition on both knowledge and car seat simulation measures. The results, consistent across outcome measures and regardless of child age, suggest that viewing the Keeping Baby Safe In and Around the Car DVD resulted in significant gains in parents’ car seat knowledge and their ability to discriminate the critical elements of correct car seat installation. Dissemination of engaging multimedia DVDs such as this program might reduce motor vehicle crash-related injuries to infants and toddlers.

Educating parents to support children’s road safety: a review of the literature

“…Four interventions used video media/television adverts highlighting the need for child safety seats (Lewis, Ho, & Lennon, 2016;Shenoi, Saz, Jones, Ma, & Yusuf, 2010;Will, Sabo, & Porter, 2008). An educational DVD for home use led to parents being able to identify significantly more seat use errors than parents who did not view the DVD (Swartz et al, 2013). However, a short 30 second television advert did not significantly influence parent's intentions to check child safety seat restraints (Lewis, Ho, & Lennon, 2016).…”

“…Although the importance of involving parents in children's road safety education is often highlighted (Muir et al, 2017), there has been limited evaluation of its effectiveness. Evidence indicated that child safety seat education improved parent's knowledge of correct safety seat installation (Swartz et al, 2013), increased safety seat use (Liu, Yang, Cheng, & Li, 2016), and reduced seat misuse errors (Duchossois et al, 2008). In contrast, much less attention has been paid to the evaluation of parent education regarding pedestrian and cycling safety.…”

“…There is great variation in what constitutes parent education. Road safety programmes involve parents to varying levels and use a variety of approaches: workshops, information leaflets and videos, homework activities, books, and media campaigns (ChildWise, 2008;Schützhofer et al, 2017;Swartz et al, 2013;West et al, 1993). Further evaluation of the most effective means of providing educational information to parents needs to be undertaken.…”

Comparison of the effectiveness of hands-on versus online education in child passenger safety

“…Furthermore, we attempted to closely mirror the education that is performed at CSS inspection stations. Compared with Schwartz  et al ,16 who instructed parents to inspect two CSS installations in the back seat of a vehicle and list the errors present, we resorted to hands-on practice. Finally, we tested long-term knowledge and skills retention that demonstrated the durability of the education.…”

Maternal depression and childhood injury risk: A population‐based cohort study in Denmark

“…The most frequent types of injuries in the United States are fires, submersion/suffocation, falls, and poisoning (Nagaraja et al., 2005). Risk factors associated with childhood injury include parenting behavior (Schwebel & Brezausek, 2010), child health (Schwebel & Brezausek, 2009), child cognitive development (Schwebel et al., 2015), use of safety practices (Swartz et al., 2013), poverty, family size, illiteracy, single parenting, lack of control over environment, and mental health problems (Peden et al., 2008).…”