Teaching adolescents safe driving and passenger behaviors: effectiveness of the You Hold the Key Teen Driving Countermeasure.
OBJECTIVE
Unsafe driving and passenger behaviors place teens at increased risk for fatal and nonfatal crashes. This study evaluated the short-and long-term efficacy of the You Hold the Key (YHTK) Teen Driving Countermeasure.


METHODS
A two-page survey was completed by high school students at pretest, posttest, and long-term (6-month) posttest.


RESULTS
YHTK was associated with significant immediate and long-term improvements in teen seatbelt use, safe driving, and perceived confidence in preventing drunk driving. Compared to pretests, students at immediate and long-term posttest more frequently wore seatbelts when driving or riding, required passengers to wear seatbelts, and limited the number of passengers to the number of seatbelts in the vehicle. Students were more likely at both posttests to avoid drinking and driving and to say no to riding with a friend who had been drinking.


CONCLUSIONS
YHTK was associated with increases in safe teen driving and passenger behaviors.


CONCLUSIONS
Success of YHTK is most notably due to its comprehensive nature. Future programs should consider comprehensive strategies when attempting to modify teen behaviors.
King
Keith A
KA
Health Promotion & Education Program, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221-0068, USA. keith.king@uc.edu
Vidourek
Rebecca A
RA
Love
Jaime
J
Wegley
Stacey
S
Alles-White
Monica
M
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D001334:Automobile Driving / Q000193:education*; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006266:Health Education; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009820:Ohio; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012622:Seat Belts / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D040241:Social Marketing; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States