title: Systematic Review: Interventions to Educate Children About Dog Safety and Prevent Pediatric Dog-Bite Injuries: A Meta-Analytic Review.
abstract: Dog-bite injury posits a significant threat to children globally. This review evaluated efficacy of cognitive/behavioral interventions for improving children's knowledge and behaviors around dogs.
  
  
  
  Manuscripts published before January 3, 2014 evaluating cognitive/behavioral interventions for dog-bite prevention among children <18 years of age were eligible for inclusion. Among 2,270 abstracts screened, 123 full texts were retrieved. Twelve studies were included in the qualitative synthesis; nine were included in the meta-analysis. Risk of bias and quality of evidence were evaluated.
  
  
  
  Cognitive/behavioral interventions had a moderate effect in improving children's knowledge and a larger effect in improving children's behavior with dogs. The most effective intervention strategies were video for knowledge and instruction with live dogs for behaviors. Quality of evidence was poor.
  
  
  
  Cognitive/behavioral interventions have potential to improve both children's knowledge and behaviors around dogs. Future interventions should include multiple follow-ups on dog-bite rates from an international perspective using rigorous randomized controlled trials.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham.
authors.forename: Jiabin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: School of Education, University of Alabama at Birmingham.
authors.forename: Jenni
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rouse
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham.
authors.forename: Manasvee
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Godbole
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham.
authors.forename: Hayley L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Wells
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham.
authors.forename: Shilpa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Boppana
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham.
authors.forename: David C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Schwebel
mesh_terms: D000056:Accident Prevention / Q000379:methods*; D000293:Adolescent; D000818:Animals; D001733:Bites and Stings / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004285:Dogs; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans
keywords: children; dog-bite; injury; meta-analysis; prevention; review