title: Thinkfirst for teens: finding an injury-prevention approach for teenagers.
abstract: Teenagers are a vulnerable population for devastating injuries. The ThinkFirst for Teens injury-prevention program, which includes scientific information and real-life stories, was presented to high school freshman students and Web-based preprogram and postprogram surveys were used to evaluate injury knowledge and safety behaviors and influences. No statistically significant difference was found in the students' answers on the preprogram and postprogram surveys. After the program, student-reported seat belt and bicycle helmet compliance had improved from that reported in the preprogram survey. Other safety behaviors that did not improve remained better than the national trends reported in the 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance data. The study supports the literature reporting that parents influence their teenagers' safety behaviors.
authors.affiliation: Borgess Medical Center, Borgess Trauma Service, Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA. amy.koestner@spectrumhealth.org
authors.forename: Amy L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Koestner
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015397:Program Evaluation; D040242:Risk Reduction Behavior; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000451:nursing / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology