Psychosocial factors related to parental restraint of pre-school children in motor vehicles

doi:10.1016/0001-4575(88)90023-1

Accident Analysis & Prevention

Volume 20, Issue 2, April 1988, Pages 87-94

https://doi.org/10.1016/0001-4575(88)90023-1 Get rights and content

Abstract

While the use of safety restraints effectively reduces the risk of death or injury in accidents, many children still travel unrestrained in motor vehicles. Compulsory seat belt legislation in Australia increased rates of adult use dramatically, but did not have the same impact with children. In order to understand why levels of children's restraint use remain low, it is necessary to investigate parental factors related to use and non-use of restraints. This study assessed the rates of safety restraint use of parents and their pre-school children, and the socio-demographic, attitudinal and belief characteristics of parents which relate to children's restraint use, using the Health Belief Model as a basis for investigation. Restraint use for adults was substantially higher than for pre-school children. Children were more likely to be restrained if their parents were wearing seat belts, were married, were of high socioeconomic status, did not smoke, engaged in certain other preventive health behaviors on their children's behalf, traveled longer distances to pre-school and provided child seats for their children. In terms of the Health Belief Model, parents of restrained and unrestrained children differed in their evaluation of the “costs” and ‘benefits” of using restraints for their children, and in health locus of control. Parents of unrestrained children perceived the ‘costs” of restraint use, in terms of nuisance value, installation difficulty and financial cost, to be high. They were also less likely to believe that they could play a significant role in preventing injury to their children. Implications of these findings for safety restraint campaigns are discussed.

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Fifty years of evolution of transportation research is revisited based on bibliometric indicators of nearly 50,000 articles, the collective publication of all transportation journals. A multitude of objective indicators all consistently determined four major divisions in the field: (i) network analysis and traffic flow, (ii) economics of transportation and logistics, (iii) travel behaviour, and (iv) road safety. Trending themes of research within the abovementioned divisions respectively are: (i) macroscopic fundamental diagram and public transport network design, (ii) nil (no distinct trending topic), (iii) land-use, active transportation, residential self-selection, travel experience/satisfaction, social exclusion and transport/spatial equity, and (iv) statistical modelling of road accidents. Furthermore, clusters of research related to topics of (a) shared mobility, (b) electric mobility, and (c) autonomous mobility constitute trending topics that are each a cross between multiple divisions of the field. These outcomes document major directions to which the transportation research is headed. Additional outcome is determination of influential outsiders, seminal articles published by non-transportation journals that have proven instrumental in the development of transportation science.
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This was consistent with other findings that there was a lower CRS use rate during the short-distance trip. ( Webb et al., 1988; Gielen et al., 1984) Our study revealed that over three-fifths of parents did not always use CRS owing to the short trip distance, which was aligned with the trend. It seems worthy of specific attention in light of the finding that it is the short trip distance that is more likely to increase injury risk to children. (
Child restraint system (CRS) is effective to protect child passenger safety in a motor vehicle crash. However, research on CRS is limited and the use rate of CRS is not high in China. We carried out a cross-sectional study to examine the use of CRS and its associated factors in Shenzhen. Via the method of cluster random sampling, parents who had at least one child aged 0 to 6 and owned a car from nine community health service centers and eight kindergartens were invited to complete the self-administered questionnaire during April and May 2014, including their knowledge of, attitude toward, and use behavior of CRS and socio-demographics. Multivariable logistic regression was used to explore the factors associated with CRS use. A total of 3768 parents participated in the survey, with a mean age of 33.94. Parents’ knowledge and attitude regarding CRS were fair, with the mean score of 3.07 and 3.33 out of 6, respectively, and only 22.8% of them used CRS for their child passengers. Children aged below 3 years, drivers owing expensive cars and wearing seatbelts, and parents with higher knowledge and attitude scores had greater likelihoods to use CRS. Moreover, trip frequency and distance were also significantly associated with CRS use. The findings indicate that the use rate of CRS is low in Shenzhen and parents have fair levels of knowledge and attitude regarding CRS use. Comprehensive public education programs and legislative interventions are urgently required to increase the use of CRS and ensure child passenger safety in Shenzhen
Integrated choice and latent variable models for evaluating flexible transport mode choice
2012, Research in Transportation Business and Management
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These psychological models – known as behavioural change models – were first developed and tested for other purposes, such as the analysis of smoking prevention, the interpretation of household consumption, the examination of environmental awareness, the intention to lose weight etc. Some of the most well known models are: the Need Opportunity Ability (NOA) Model (Meloni, Bez, & Spissu, 2009; Shiftan, 2008), the Health Belief Model (HBM) (Webb, Sanson-Fisher, & Bowman, 1988), the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT), (Sonmez & Graefe, 1998), the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) (Bamberg & Schmidt, 2003), the Norm Activation Model (NAM) – (Hopper & Nielsen, 1991; Hunecke, Blobaum, Matthies, & Hoger, 2001), the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) – (Fergusson, Davis, & Skinner, 1999; INPHORMM, 1998; TAPESTRY, 2002) and the MaxSem Model (MAX Project, 2009). Most of these models are using the concept of behavioural stage, in order to explain the way that people formulate, consolidate or change their behaviour (Darnton, 2008; Rose & Marfurt, 2007).
Flexible Transport Modes and Services are primarily demand oriented initiatives that presuppose the self motivation of each individual in order to be preferred in a constant way. Given that fact, the examination of the potential success of such interventions should take into account not only quantitative data but also qualitative /behavioural parameters that participate in the mode choice procedure. This examination should follow specific guidelines in order to have common accepted evaluation procedures.
In this paper, an Integrated Framework for the ex ante evaluation of a Flexible Transport Mode Schemes, is presented.
The proposed framework is implemented in a real life problem: the introduction of Flexible Transport Mode scheme for commuting trips. Following the theories and concepts of the Framework, ICLV (Integrated Choice and Latent Variables) models were developed, in order to estimate the importance of a set of variables into mode choice process, for four alternative to the car modes The models that were developed though the usage of Structural Equation Modeling techniques are hybrid binary choice models and the discrepancy function that was used was the Bayesian estimation.
The analysis showed that latent variables can significantly contribute in the process of interpreting the mode choice decision.
Discrepancies between knowledge and practice of childhood motor vehicle occupant safety in Nova Scotia - A population-based study
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Inconvenience and their child not wanting to use one have been reported by parents (Ramsey et al., 2000). In addition, parents may have a reduced perception of risk of injury in the case of a MVC involving their children, subsequently perceiving the cost or inconvenience of using a certain restraint system as outweighing any perceived benefit in the form of reduced risk of injury in a MVC (Ramsey et al., 2000; Webb et al., 1988; Will, 2005). These factors are not mutually exclusive.
To determine discrepancies between knowledge and practice of childhood motor vehicle restraints (CMVRs) and vehicle seating position amongst parents within the province of Nova Scotia.
Random telephone survey.
The Canadian province of Nova Scotia.
Four hundred and twenty-six households with at least one child under the age of 12 years, totaling 723 children.
The proportion of parents whose children who should be in a specific stage of CMVR and sitting in the rear seat of the vehicle, and who demonstrate correct knowledge of that restraint system and seating position, yet do not use that restraint system/seating position for their child (demonstrate practice discrepant from their knowledge).
Awareness of what restraint system to use is good (>80%). However, knowledge of when it is safe to graduate to the next stage is low (30–55%), most marked for when to use a seatbelt alone. Awareness of the importance of sitting in the rear seat of a vehicle was universal. Discrepancies between knowledge and practice were most marked with booster seats and rear-seating of older children. Factors influencing incorrect practice (prematurely graduated to a higher-level restraint system than what is appropriate for age and weight) included lower household income, caregiver education level, and knowledge of when to graduate from forward-facing car seats and booster seats. Incorrect practice was also more commonly observed amongst children of weight and/or age approaching (but not yet reaching) recommended graduation parameters of the appropriate CMVR.
Discrepancies between knowledge and practice are evident through all stages of CMVRs, but most marked with booster seats. The roles of lower socioeconomic status and gaps in CMVR legislation, in influencing discrepant practice, must be acknowledged and suggest the need for targeted education concurrent with development of comprehensive all-stages CMVR policies.
Driver characteristics associated with child safety seat usage in Malaysia: A cross-sectional study
2010, Accident Analysis and Prevention
Citation Excerpt :
Thus, between the two locations, there is no demonstrated difference in behavior toward CSS usage, suggesting that advocacy efforts followed by legislation and enforcement are needed to curb such behavior. The distance traveled to the study location did not show any association with CSS usage in this study, but other studies have found lower CSS usage rates during short-distance trips (Gielen et al., 1984; Webb et al., 1988). Travel distance can be associated with exposure to enforcement activity.
The rapidly motorizing environment in Malaysia has made child occupant safety a current public health concern. The usage of child safety seats (CSS) is a widely regarded intervention to enhance child occupant safety, yet no study has been conducted on CSS in Malaysia. This study aims to determine the CSS usage rates in Malaysia and to assess driver characteristics that are associated with CSS usage.
Nine variables – urban versus rural study location, age, gender, marital status, educational status, monthly family income, number of children present in the vehicle, distance traveled to the study location, and attitude – were examined through a cross-sectional study of interviewing drivers of 230 vehicles transporting at least one child <10 years of age at the time of the study. The vehicles were also observed for whether or not there was a CSS present. The interviews were conducted at six sampling locations – three urban and three rural – in the state of Melaka.
27.4% of the drivers were found to be using at least one CSS at the time of the survey. Among the nine variables studied, three of the driver characteristics showed statistical significance (p < 0.05) with CSS usage: age (p = 0.047), educational status (p = 0.009), and attitude (p = 0.009).
This study begins to create knowledge on child occupant safety in Malaysia. The results indicate that interventional efforts should focus on educational programs geared toward drivers that are less educated or extended family members who inconsistently transport young children. Furthermore, any educational efforts could be strongly enhanced by legislation mandating the use of CSS. Every effort should be made to thoroughly assess the effectiveness of any educational or legislative activities that are implemented.
Alarming trends in the improper use of motor vehicle restraints in children: implications for public policy and the development of race-based strategies for improving compliance
2008, Journal of Pediatric Surgery
Little is known regarding the patterns of appropriate restraint use among minority children involved in motor vehicle collisions. The purpose of this study was to characterize patterns of restraint use among children hospitalized after motor vehicle collision and to examine the effects of race and socioeconomic status on compliance.
All children admitted to our level I trauma center over a 10-year period were identified. Patterns of appropriate restraint use were compared between African American (AA) and white children. Compliance was also compared between children insured with Medicaid (as a surrogate for socioeconomic status) and those with private insurance coverage.
One thousand two hundred sixty-eight patients were included with an overall restraint use of 44.8% with only 20.3% restrained properly. Compared with white children, AAs were significantly less likely to be properly restrained (12.7% vs 22.2%, P < .001) or to be restrained by any means (28.8% vs 48.7%, P < .001). The greatest disparity between groups was observed in the use of car seats (16.0% vs 47.4%, P < .001). Medicaid patients were less likely to be restrained compared with those with commercial insurance (40.6% vs 48.3%, P = .022); however, race remained a significant predictor of noncompliance after controlling for the effect of insurance status.
These data demonstrate an alarming trend because nearly 80% of all children in our study were improperly restrained. Marked disparities in compliance were observed in the AA population even after controlling for insurance coverage. Future studies will need to further characterize the complex interplay between race and socioeconomic status with proper restraint use.

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Psychosocial factors related to parental restraint of pre-school children in motor vehicles

Abstract

Injury

Prev. Med.

Accid. Anal. Prev.

Injury

Accid. Anal. & Prev.

Road traffic accidents involving casualties (admissions to hospitals) Australia. September and December quarters, 1982

The use of restraints by children in automobiles—1983 (preliminary report)

Interventions in pre-schools to increase the use of safety restraints by pre-school children

Pediatrics

The degree of benefit of belts in reducing injury—an attempt to explain study discrepancies

Society of Automotive Engineers, Technical Paper 790684

Weighted kappa: nominal scale agreement with provision for scaled disagreement or partial credit

Psychol. Bull.