Promoting parental management of teen driving

B G Simons-Morton¹, J L Hartos¹ and W A Leaf²

¹ Prevention Research Branch, Division of Epidemiology, Statistics, and Prevention Research, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 6100 Executive Blvd, 7B05 Bethesda, MD 20892-7510, USA
² Senior Associate, Preusser Research Group, Inc., 7100 Main Street, Trumbull, CT 06611, USA

Correspondence to:
Dr B Simons-Morton, Prevention Research Branch, Division of Epidemiology, Statistics, and Prevention Research, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 6100 Executive Blvd, 7B05 Bethesda, MD 20892-7510, USA;
mortonb{at}mail.nih.gov

Objective: Parenting may be an important protective factor against teen driving risk; however, parents do not limit teen driving as much as might be expected. The Checkpoint Program was designed to promote parental management of teen driving through the use of staged persuasive communications.

Methods: Parent-teen dyads (n = 452) were recruited when teens received learner’s permits and interviewed over the telephone at baseline, licensure, and three months post-licensure. After baseline, families were randomized to either the intervention group that received persuasive communications or to the comparison group that received general information about driving safety.

Results: Both parents and teens in the intervention group reported significantly greater limits on teen driving at licensure and three months post-licensure. In multivariate analyses, intervention and baseline driving expectations had significant effects on driving limits at licensure. Intervention and driving limits established at licensure were associated with three month driving limits.

Conclusion: The findings indicate that exposure to the Checkpoints Program increased parental limits on teen driving.

Keywords: driving risk; young drivers; parenting; parental management

Abbreviations: DMV, Department of Motor Vehicles; GDL, graduated driver licensing; PCs, persuasive communications

---

 

Discussion paper

K H Beck³

³ Professor, Dept of Public and Community Health, 2366 HHP Building, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742-2611, USA; kb9{at}umail.umd.edu

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Rivara, F. P (2007). Interdisciplinary research and randomized trials. Inj. Prev. 13: 217-218 [Full Text]  
• Simons-Morton, B. G., Hartos, J. L., Leaf, W. A., Preusser, D. F. (2006). Increasing Parent Limits on Novice Young Drivers: Cognitive Mediation of the Effect of Persuasive Messages. Journal of Adolescent Research 21: 83-105 [Abstract]  
• Votta, E, MacKay, M (2005). Evaluating the acceptability and feasibility of the I Promise Program: a driving program for families with young new drivers. Inj. Prev. 11: 369-372 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Simons-Morton, B. G., Hartos, J. L., Leaf, W. A., Preusser, D. F. (2005). Persistence of Effects of the Checkpoints Program on Parental Restrictions of Teen Driving Privileges. Am. J. Public Health 95: 447-452 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Chen, I G, Elliott, M R, Durbin, D R, Winston, F K (2005). Teen drivers and the risk of injury to child passengers in motor vehicle crashes. Inj. Prev. 11: 12-17 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Hartos, J. L., Beck, K. H., Simons-Morton, B. G. (2004). Parents' Intended Limits on Adolescents Approaching Unsupervised Driving. Journal of Adolescent Research 19: 591-606 [Abstract]  
• (2004). Hygieia. J. Epidemiol. Community Health 58: 356-356 [Full Text]  
• Beck, K. H., Shattuck, T., Raleigh, R., Hartos, J. (2003). Does Graduated Licensing Empower Parents to Place Greater Restrictions on Their Newly Licensed Teens' Driving?. Health Educ Behav 30: 695-708 [Abstract]