title: Participative education for children: an effective approach to increase safety belt use.
abstract: Vehicle license plate numbers and the shoulder belt use of front-seat occupants were recorded unobtrusively when parents delivered and picked up their children at a Montessori school during 5-day baseline, intervention, and follow-up phases. Practicing and presenting a 15-min safety belt skit increased the safety belt use of those 6 kindergarten children who were not consistent belt users 82% above their preintervention baseline belt use mean of 47%. The belt use of these children's parents (who watched the skit) increased to 56% above their baseline mean of 36%. Also, mean safety belt use of 11 primary school children who watched the skit increased to 70% above their baseline of 28%. Mean safety belt use of the older children's parents (who didn't watch the skit) remained at approximately 31% for each phase, regardless of whether children were vehicle occupants. The follow-up observations, taken 3 months after the intervention, revealed 60% belt use for the kindergartners, 48% for the primary school children, and 71% for the kindergartners' parents when the children were vehicle occupants but only 30% when the parents were driving alone.
authors.affiliation: Eastern Mennonite College.
authors.forename: G R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Lehman
authors.forename: E S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Geller
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012622:Seat Belts; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000517:prevention & control